


Black Water | Tokyo Ghoul

by LamiaCor



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Drama, F/M, Gore, Humor, Kisses, M/M, Mystery, OC Story, Romance, Slow Burn, Tragedy, Violence, Will there be major character death? I don't know either, crazy but cute OC character, slow burn Amon Koutarou/MaleOC, slow starting romance, some mature moments, that moment when Amon does something so out of character, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-15 15:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 79,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7227955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LamiaCor/pseuds/LamiaCor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People don't really change. Even as a ghoul, Ishikawa Rin was sure of that. Ever since his brother's death, he's never been the same and had been hell bent on killing anyone he wants, living the life of a stray cat and gaining power through any means necessary.</p><p>Out of control, he somehow meets with the ghouls of Anteiku who seemingly think that they'll be able to change his ways. With the cruel grin flashing across his face, this ghoul accepts the challenge and is met with the strangest of events as he seeks the reason of his brother's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cold Blood

**Author's Note:**

> So, I couldn't help myself. I couldn't sleep and a scene popped up in my head and I just had to write it. And now, I have no idea where I am taking this fanfic, but tell me what you guys think anyway!! :D

  
"No, wait," the man with oil slick black hair begged. The red in his black eyes pounded with fear as the rain trickled from his face, making it seem as though he was crying.

The man in the white trench coat didn't seem to hear him though. He simply approached, looming over him like a tall mountain.

Thunder crackled overhead and as usual, the boy simply watched from atop a tall building, silently watching the scene unfold before him like a bored cat undisturbed by the rain falling atop his head and wetting his thick blonde hair.

Hugging himself to keep warm, the young boy eyed the suitcase the taller man was clutching.

' _Anytime now_.' Rin thought, his dark brown eyes carefully shifting towards the frightened man cowering backwards like an injured little bird. ' _You're finally gonna die, Mamoru_.'

The black haired man was in a tight situation. The boy sighed, suddenly annoyed.

If only Mamoru thought about a better spot to run into. The boy had been watching him for some time now and he was pretty slow. Obviously, jumping over the fence he had backed himself into was impossible. 

Other than that, he was loathsomely weak-An effect of not eating human flesh for days.

The boy had helped Mamoru once, assisting him in a hunt for food when he was too frightened to walk around by himself. Rin already knew what type of person Mamoru was. The one who would look so sweet and innocent at first then stab you in the back. That was quite literal in Rin's case however.

The edge of the boy's mouth twitched in annoyance as his cool palm touched one end of the long scar on the left side of his back.

The guy was aiming for his lungs at that time. Unfortunately for him, Rin was one of the lucky few ghouls who had excellent and amazingly quick healing abilities.

' _We could've been friends_.' He thought as he continued listening to Mamoru's squeaky whimpers, begging the Dove to spare his life.

Right before he could say more, Mamoru had frozen, his eyes wide with shock and his face pale in the darkness of the narrow alley. A moment later, the smell of blood burst into Rin's nostrils and he watched as Mamoru's head slowly slipped off his neck, falling to the wet floor with a loud and mushy PLOP!

Taking a breath and sighing, Ishikawa Rin stood, straightening his back all the while keeping an eye on the ghoul investigator still standing before the corpse.

The man didn't have any striking features. Just that he had short black hair and was nothing but a tall, walking bag full of muscle.

Rin scoffed at the man who was obviously unafraid of his presence.

A familiar heat welled up in the boy's chest before his dark brown eyes had slowly turned black, the red in his eye gleaming and pulsing with blood lust in the haze of the night rain.

"What are you waiting for?" the man asked, his loud and husky voice bouncing off the high walls of the alley.

Rin felt the smirk growing on his face, the menacing grin plastered over his cool façade.

With a light push of his feet, Rin jumped off the roof of the building, gracefully and soundlessly landing right behind the tall human who smelled a tad too sweaty even under the already heavy rain.

Rin rolled his eyes.

"Didn't I tell you to stop wearing that coat when you and I are together?"

A loud whooshing sound zipped though the air and a flash of bright, crackling red sailed across Rin's face, stopping right between his eyes.

The boy raised a thick brow at Doujima, still amazed at how easily the human was holding up the gigantic stick of a quinque. Staring at the weapon used to kill ghouls, Rin started to wonder how difficult it must've been to acquire.

"This is the last time I help you...Ishikawa. Now, eat." Koutarou Amon said, his thin brows curved strangely at then ends knit together with a strange determination Rin had grown to accept after the week they've been together.

The boy carefully moved away from the steaming quinque, sidestepping the ghoul investigator and heading to the corpse.

"That's what you said two days ago." Rin said, unable to keep the smirk rising on his face as he wrapped his long fingered hands on Mamoru's moderately muscular arm. In a flash, he twisted off the arm, the thick redness gushing out the corpse and smelling too much like rancid fish oil. 

Amon was quiet behind the ghoul and Rin could feel him watching as he devoured the disgusting meat, quickly chewing and instantly swallowing right after.

"Two days ago the promise of keeping you alive was still valid." Amon loudly said, his footsteps loudly approaching Rin from behind.

"That promise is now fulfilled. Don't bother me ever again, ghoul or I will kill you."

 


	2. Thorough Planning

Rin was sure the human wouldn’t lash out all of a sudden.

After all those days, Amon surprisingly kept his promise to watch over Rin all by himself. Not once did the boy see him make a move to inform the other Doves that he was actually being blackmailed by a ghoul.

At first, the boy thought it was all a clever ruse-act as if you were going to cooperate then start the mutiny to kill the little cannibal. It was a tactic Rin has used himself on unsavory characters. But as Rin got to know the ghoul investigator better, following him silently to his walk home, watching him eat and talk with his friends, the boy realized that the human was one of those that would do anything to save another human.

The self-righteous man who would risk his life for a child.

Rin could still remember the cries of the little child looking for his mother as he waded through the sea of humans, lost in the middle of a dark street. Seeing him, all Rin could think was,

What kind of parent would take their eyes off a child at night in the middle of the 7th ward where the infamous Ghoul Restaurant was? And surely people know that the ghouls in there are slightly more monstrous than the normal flesh eaters. They would gladly experiment on the flesh and blood of a human child.

At that time, Rin was in a café, slightly shuddering at the coldness of the air conditioner whirring mechanically right next to him. The coffee wasn’t doing any warming up for him. It didn’t taste good either. He was trying to pull his eyes away from the boy but then the boy passed, with a tear streaked face and a nose redder than a tomato.

‘ _It’s none of your business.’_

But Rin was already moving out of the café, his brown eyes never leaving the child’s back as he sighed, the usual disappointment for humanity swirling deeply in his chest as he carefully followed the black haired child. Knitting his brows together, Rin looked up from under his long, pale fringe, his eyes quickly shifting from one human to another then back to the child.

None of the humans were making a move to help. Some did look and give a minute look of sympathy but kept moving with the crowd anyway.

Now, _they_ stuck with the ‘it’s none of my business’ phrase really well.

It pissed Rin off.

The human child stopped at an intersection, his cries softening now. It seemed he had calmed down. Rin raised a blonde brow, impressed and a little amused.

The kid seemed brave and smart.

Rin wasn’t really a citizen from the 7th ward. He was a nomad but he did have an idea of where the police station was in each ward he had visited before and the kid was headed right for the 7th ward's. After finally calming down, Rin could see the new silent determination in the boy's face as he waved through the crowds. Sure of where he was going.

Smart move, of course. To immediately go to the police when you get lost. And it was even more so impressive that a child only a foot taller than a fire hydrant knew where the police station was.

‘ _Still reckless though_.’ Rin thought as he watched the little boy maneuver himself through the crowd. Occasionally, the kid would stare into alleyways. Probably thinking that they were better shortcuts.

Rin scoffed, feeling the familiar pang of disappointment again.

If the boy ever went through one of those, Rin would probably attack and end his miserable life quickly before another ghoul got a hold of him. It would’ve been a predictable outcome anyway. Boring and usual.

In the back of his head, Rin knew he was only following the child merely out of curiosity of what he would do when he was lost and what would happen if someone else had caught sight of him.

These days, it’s been harder to hunt what with all the Doves roaming around the wards like rats. With those ghoul hunters scampering around, good and very fresh food is hard to come by.

Imagine. For a ghoul to come upon a stray human child.

It wasn’t much to eat but it was much better than nothing.

In the middle of his thoughts, Rin blinked at the scent of another ghoul in the area.

 Shifting a bit, he carefully pushed his hand into his jacket pocket, feeling the small white surgical mask and rubbing the cloth to soothe and calm himself if he ever gets into a fight with another ghoul.

The human crowd was getting thinner. Looking up, he saw the boy still walking carefully ahead of him, oblivious of the man with dark, crew cut hair just standing a few feet away, leaning against an alley wall and (trying to) subtly glance towards the little child. Rin saw the lump in the man’s throat bob with hunger.

Well, the boy did smell nicer than most humans. If Rin would compare it to human food people keep talking about, the boy would smell a lot like a nice and juicy steak bathed in a delicious thick and brown gravy.

Rin felt his eyes darken as the boy got closer to the alley. The man went rigid, ready to snatch the boy from the streets.

 Taking long legged strides, Rin strode past the boy and glared right at the man.

At first he didn’t recognize Rin, but taking in the head of a thick blonde mess of hair and the distinct mole right below his left eye, the ghoul stumbled back farther into the alley, his eyes going wide with fear and nervousness. Before the man could gasp his name, Rin pulled back his arm in a blurred flash, easily landing a heavy punch right into the ghoul’s soft stomach and pushing him into the dark alley where none of the humans could hear.

“Ch-Cheetah,” the man stammered, already backing up, his eyes, now their dark black and red shaky with fear as he looked up at the boy. “I-I didn’t know he was yours, I’m sorry, you can have him.” the man said in a fast pace.

Rin narrowed his eyes.

‘ _Should I kill him?_ ’

Slowly tilting his head, he contemplated it. The man had enough lean muscle and it would be much too easy to smash his vocal cords to stop the screams. The boy had already eaten another ghoul last week but he was getting bored.

The man’s eyes darted towards one side of Rin. Noticing, the boy followed his gaze and turned a bit to see the small child staring into the dark alley, peering. He couldn’t see Rin through the blackness but Rin still went rigid and remembered his real agenda for tonight.

“Ah, right.” he mumbled to himself, feeling the minute shift in the air before him. His eyes whipping to the man, he only caught a glance of a foot clumsily disappearing over the brick wall.

Rin clicked a tongue, slightly annoyed. He could’ve gone for one, tiny kill before continuing to watch over the child.

Turning, he saw the boy was already gone. Not feeling a tad bid panicky, Rin felt the red warmth flash over the back of his waist before the four thin tendrils of his rinkaku snaked around him.

Two of them pushed at the ground and Rin found himself flying over the building. Before anyone could see his kagune, Rin pulled them back before landing in another alley where the boy was walking right beside.

Landing too close to the boy, the child gasped at the flash of Rin’s white jacket. Pulling his tiny arms close to his chest in a gesture of fear and instinctive protection, the boy looked up at Rin, watching the way the older boy perked a seemingly puzzled brow.

‘ _And the play starts._ ’

“You lost?” Rin asked, his husky and slightly baritone voice loud to the boy’s sensitive ears.

Batting his lashes, the child kept still. Rin sighed, crouching to meet his eye level and ignoring the way the boy flinched.

“Are you lost?” he asked again, this time sounding a lot kinder and much like a grown up.

After a moment, the boy finally answered with a tiny voice, “I’m going to the police station.”

“It’ll already be closed.” He lied.

The boy looked confused for a moment and stood silent. Rin was in the middle of thinking about why he was talking to the kid when something pulsed painfully on his left back.

Not expecting it, he winced, his hands automatically going towards his back. With his fresh wound pulsing, Rin grinded his teeth together, superbly pissed at the memory of his acquaintance-Mamoru. The bastard suddenly turned on him in the middle of a hunt right near CCG and left him to be discovered by the very men who were, for the past months, hunting through the wards for his head.

‘ _I can’t believe I actually fell for that_.’ Rin was in the middle of angry thoughts when the boy drew closer, looking alarmed.

“Are you okay?” he asked, boldly putting a hand on Rin’s shoulder. He went rigid under the touch, almost flinching away. But staring into the boy’s round, brown eyes, his own eyes suddenly went bright with triumph. Hearing his heart pumping with excitement, he repressed a smile.

‘ _I knew I followed you for a reason.’_ He wanted to say it out loud but even a kid would run screaming at that statement. Quickly driving away the look of slight shock on his face, Rin slowly looked back up at the child who simply froze at the look of indescribable pain and sadness.

“Could I ask for your help?”

And that was how Rin’s little plan started. Rin kept the boy in his temporary home for a few days, realizing that the kid was too easy to get comfortable with strangers despite him saying that his mother had told him not to do so.

“But you needed help.” The boy pointedly said with a pout as he sat on the bean bag chair next to Rin’s, not looking the least bit worried that he was in a ghoul’s house. To be fair, he didn’t know that Rin was a ghoul anyway.

Well, that part about him needing help was true. Rin did need some assistance. After gaining that injury, it was harder to hunt for food and defend himself out in the streets. Some ghouls already know about his injuries thanks to Mamoru’s big mouth and Rin was kept on his toes because of it.

The boy who Rin finally understood was named Haruka asked why he needed help from him.

“Some bad guys are following me.” he said, “and they’re afraid of little kids.”

Explaining to the boy, almost everything was a lie.

It was true that other ghouls wanted to kill him since he’s been terrorizing almost every ward now, frightening off ghouls with the fact that he was one of those cannibals. The ones who believed in the strength gained from others of their kind. The ones who would sometimes kill just for the fun of it. To them, Rin was a lanky brute in the dark alley, fast as lightning and crueler than the cheating devil and he had to be disposed of.

But he didn’t have the boy for protection. Not from the ghouls at least.

The plan he had in mind was to let the boy go missing for a while, have the humans look for him.

The main idea was to bring the ghoul investigators close to him so he could have…well, a sword to temporarily replace his own. It was an ironic idea considering his history with the CCG but he was an eccentric and was ready for anything at the moment. Mamoru unexpectedly hits with very good aim that really hurts. And it was easier said than done for Rin to find a ghoul friend.

He didn’t plan it thoroughly but somehow, he did well and so far, all had gone according to plan. He had chosen a very good sword for his revenge against Mamoru. This one standing behind him and watching with a glower was honest and true and held on his promise to move all by himself.

 _'That and he's huge_.'

Rin could still remember the grimace Amon held when he asked the human to help him get some food for a whole week, not telling him that he was actually seeking Amon's help to murder someone without dirtying his own hands. Like the scientist, like the great chess player smirking down at his pieces, Rin was able to lead Amon straight to Mamoru.

Rin smirked to himself again, laughing at his ingenuity. He took another bite of Mamoru’s lifeless arm and almost grimaced. When will he ever get used to eating other ghouls?

“Now,” Amon started. Rin could practically smell the anger radiating from him. “Where’s the child?”

“Stop wearing that coat around me,” Rin simply said with a loud voice, crinkling his nose at the smell of Amon’s sweat mixing with the rain.

A heavy whiz in the air and Rin jumped high up, feeling his rinkaku burst from his skin and sending him flying back up the top of the roof.

“ **ENOUGH JOKES!** ” Amon shouted, his deep voice echoing through the alley. Rin minutely flinched but kept the grin on his face, though it’s not like the human could see. The white surgical mask now splattered with a deep coat of red was hiding Rin’s features. In the darkness, all Amon could see now was the green X on the mask glowing brightly even under the gruesome red.  

‘ _Keep cool_.’

“I was eating.” Rin loudly said, feeling the rain cleaning the blood from his hand.

“Your promise!”

“You do know what would happen if people from your line of work hear about you helping me, right?”

Amon growled, setting his jaw in return. Rin was proud of himself. It was all too easy to take advantage of a man of his brand of justice. If he was ever caught by the Commission of Counter Ghoul A.K.A the CCG, he would definitely be fired and might even be executed.

“Where. Is. The boy?” Amon asked once again, his tone of voice and the way he held his quinque obviously saying that he wouldn’t repeat himself anymore without bursting into a bullish attack.

Rin rolled his eyes and felt the gruesome smirk spread through his face under the mask. Like a child, he crouched on the edge of the roof, his knees to his chest as he hugged them like an uppity child.

“He’s safe with his mom, of course.”

Rin stared down at Amon, loving the way he had frozen the investigator, the man’s face contorted with shock and hidden anger. A second later, that anger burst through his face as he gripped the handle of his quinque so hard, it looked like it was going to break.

“ _ **WHAT?!** ”_

Rin straightened himself, choosing to cheerfully ignore the man’s anger. “I never kidnapped him, Amon. ” Hearing his name from the boy’s lips only made Amon’s anger worsen. “Just this morning, her mother reported that she’s spotted him in the park all by himself.”

“Tell me!”

Sighing, Rin obliged. It was time to tell him everything anyway.

“I took him to the park, yes. And I talked to him about some of my little, hmm, troubles and he was a nice kid. So when I helped him find his way back home again, he decided to help _me_ out this time, thinking that my life was in danger.” He took a breath and almost smiled at the thought of his little human friend.

“I didn’t keep him in my house all the time. He was too energetic for that. I told him to go home whenever his mom wasn’t and leave no traces that he was there at all. The kid was impressively smart and did everything really well with _great_ independence.

He was able to trick all of you into thinking that he had been kidnapped for days when in fact, he had simply been leaving the house all by himself whenever all of you weren’t looking. After patiently waiting, I finally got a hold of you. And you promised to help me out this time to save that already safe child. And well, everything just went perfectly.”

Amon just stared at the ghoul above him, his face clear with nothing but disbelief at the fact that he was so easily tricked.

Gritting his teeth, all Amon could think was how thorough this ghoul was. He didn’t want to say it and give the ghoul a chance to beam but Rin chuckled anyway, enjoying the momentary triumph burning and bubbling deep under his skin now.

“It’s the kid who’s the genius.” Rin said, “If it wasn’t for his sneakiness, this wouldn’t have worked at all.”

Amon narrowed his eyes at that. “And you just went along with it?” he scoffed, “How foolish. What if he wasn’t so naïve and kind as you think?”

Rin simply shrugged his shoulders, staring down at the human now with narrowed eyes, his excitement instantly replaced with a threatening red eyed stare.

“Enough. We both helped each other out.” he loudly said, his voice filled with a low rumble that made the human shudder deeply in his skin. “You got me what I wanted and I let you kill countless ghouls to satiate your thirst to kill.”

Not feeling the least bit threatened, Amon gritted his teeth. “What exactly did you want? And how do I know that you’re not going to pull a trap on me?”

Lightning flashed overhead and a deafening ring of thunder clashed through their ears.

Rin was glaring hard at Amon, grinding his teeth together and feeling the hotness slithering under his neck and on his back, his kagune threatening to burst out and itching to pierce through the human.

Not thinking, he let his kagune burst out in a quick lash, easily whipping away Doujima from Amon’s grip, the force of Rin’s attack causing the man to stumble before the thick kagune slammed right into his stomach, delivering a blow like that of a master heavyweight boxer.

There was no blood or a wound to the human but Amon gasped, his eyes going wide with shock as Rin’s kagune slammed the human against the cement wall, plastering his back right to it.

Struggling against the soft warmth of Rin’s kagune, Amon watched the boy carefully float down from the roof. With his pale blonde hair and his fair oval shaped face, Amon could only think that he could’ve been the angel who was once God’s favorite. As the smell of blood lingering around Rin’s hands came closer to Amon’s senses, he braced himself, ready for the killing stab to the head this ghoul was famous for.

“I knew you were no different from them…Cheetah.” Amon quietly said, glaring right back at Rin who minutely flinched under his skin at the sound of his ghoul name.

Anger flaring like steam from a kettle, Rin let his kagune wrap around the human, pulling him away from the wall before throwing him straight out, hard like a baseball.

Slamming against the pole of a streetlight, Amon groaned, feeling the steel shudder against his stinging back as he carefully pulled his eyes up, squinting through the heavy rain and watching Rin carefully approach, looking as normal as a human. But under the long, blonde fringe and the yellow hood dotted with black, he saw his eyes-glowing with a beautiful pulsing ruby, full of anger and disgust.

“Do not compare me to anyone, _human_.” Rin growled with disdain, not bothering to hide the way his fists had clenched so hard, they were shaking.

One part of Rin wanted to kill the human. The little human who dared think of him as nothing but a liar. ‘ _I’m not always one._ ’ The thought painfully echoed in his mind as he stared down the human, his kagune twitching, begging for him to decide whether or not he should kill this man too and watch his blood spill deliciously all over the pavement.

He was a Dove. One of the men who ruin people’s lives daily. And this one…Rin had to resist the urge to punch his face because of what he had just said right to his face.

The streets were empty. Other than there was a storm tonight and it was already deep in the evening, he could kill Amon Koutarou and not even worry about anyone seeing.

The demon in him grinned and for some reason, he repressed the twitching on the corners of his mouth.

‘ _Calm down_.’

A long, deep breath was more than enough to do so. With a last glare, Rin turned his back, pushing his hands into his jacket pockets and leaving Amon in the rain, staring at his retreating form. Before he could get farther, Amon yelled:

“What fool of a ghoul would tell an investigator their own name?!”

Rin stopped, feeling the rain soak well through his clothes. Not turning back, Rin could only shake with laughter. 


	3. An Intimate (?) Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up. Rin is a bit of a flirt. LMFAO

Today was, as per usual, very normal for Rin.

It's been a few weeks since he left the 11th ward and had almost gotten his head ripped off by a ghoul called 'Nibbles' who's usually identified with a creepy half, red eyed mask, his crooked teeth exposed which is always seen to be nibbling on his victim's flesh before he finally gorges them down.

Thinking about how long he's been in the 20th ward now, he knit up his brows and pulled his head up a bit, reveling at the calm and cool morning he was walking under.

Since the sun was still covered by the light clouds, Rin didn't have to worry about being irritated by the ball of heat.

Rin raised a brow and slightly pouted at himself all of a sudden. ' _I didn't think Nibbles would be so irritable_.'

He just wanted to ask where the library was but the guy instantly hissed and threw himself at the boy, growling like a (giant, rabid) cat and letting his bikaku rip through the air to try and behead the little blonde boy.

' _Should've killed him, though_.' Rin thought to himself, not even shuddering at his ominous thoughts as he touched his hair, rubbing a thick dark strand between two fingers.

Of course, after his little venture with Amon Koutarou, the man was left vengeful and determined to track him down so he had to have a bit of a makeover and make Cheetah disappear for a while.

Nowadays, the boy has slightly longer, shoulder length hair tapering between his shoulder blades, dyed to be darker than midnight. The mole on his left cheek was gone too which was easier to take care of since it was just the result of his make-up skills, after all. The last night he had spent beating up Amon was the only night he actually wore make up to conceal his face.

' _Thank god, that's over_.' Rin scornfully thought, regretting, just for a bit, that he had to get mixed up with such a troublesome human who made him be so careful, he just had to watch make up tutorials in the internet.

Now though, the boy was a lot more himself and more comfortable than ever.

' _And I don't have to wear any make up anymore_.'

Right as he was frowning at the slight split ends in his hair, two teens whizzed by, whispering to each other about a certain blonde ghoul.

Rin continued walking behind them, keeping his head down and hiding the fact that he was practically craning his neck to listen in on gossip about him.

"We should really test to see if Cheetah's gone." the slightly taller boys said with a giggle. Rin narrowed his eyes a bit, starting to feel the amusement bubbling in him.

It  _has_  been about three months since his last escapade in the 16th ward. A last bang to go through before totally disappearing and putting the CCG's hunt into a screeching halt. Oh, what he would give to see how annoyed that muscle man is to hear about his disappearance!

He still remembered the investigator yelling something about his real name. Rin felt his shoulders shaking again, a wobbly grin on his face.

The slightly shorter boy shifted nervous eyes to his friend now. "That's not a very good idea." he hissed. Rin lightly nodded in agreement. 'Q _uite stupid, indeed_.'

Whatever kind of human the taller one was, Rin was sure he had thrill issues.

"No way am I gonna wait for that ghoul in an alley." The other boy said, "You know that they say Cheetah loves to torture his victims. May it be ghoul or human."

The taller boy ignored him and grinned to himself, "What if he's still alive, eh, Kaneki?" he asked in an excited whisper as he stretched his arms back, threading his fingers together behind a messy, dark blonde head.

Rin had to keep himself from flinching too hard. He had his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets where he could feel the black mouth mask, smooth and thick under his touch.

He started gently rubbing small circles on the cloth, trying to calm himself.

He's heard people talk about how he-the insane Cheetah ghoul-could still be at large, muttering about his existence and remaining oblivious that the very ghoul they were talking about was standing right next to them, quietly reading a book.

But right now, he couldn't shake the feeling that the boy knew more than he should. And he himself doesn't even know it.

"He could be here in the 20th ward, right now." the blonde thoughtfully said, playfully crouching and shifting brown eyes around like a weird frog.

Rin blinked multiple times, taken aback by how spot on the guy was.   
Should he be worried right now and think that this kid was actually a secret member of the CCG sent by Amon Koutarou to find him?

No way.

The black haired boy next to the blonde seemed to shiver at the thought. "Stop that, Hide." He muttered, gaining a loud, rambunctious laugh from the other.

Realizing that, maybe the boy was just really goofing around and was only talking to scare his friend, Rin relaxed a bit, waving away his paranoia and continuing down his calming morning walk.

Today on his agenda was going to find a good café. These days, he was short on good coffee and he needed something to wash out the filthy taste of ghoul on his tongue. Though it's been a long time since he last ate another ghoul, he could still taste it in his mouth. The sour warmth of the meat and the bitterness of blood. He grimaced, shuddering a bit.

Looking up, he realized that he was still following the two boys. Thinking that they might get suspicious of him, Rin straightened his back, looking around to see if there were any good shops to go into. At one side, he spotted a mini mart, a poster of a green popsicle taped to the glass.

Moving towards the shop, he studied the poster and raised a thick, dark brow.

 _'70 yen for an ice pop_?' he thought with slight disdain. Rin never once tried human food. He never had to. He didn't have any human friends after all, nor did he stay around too long in one place for people to get suspicious of him.

If he ever had to stay too long, he would buy some food-the usual and cheap microwavable stuff along with lots of water. Every time he buys some human food and gets home, Rin would always sigh, feeling defeated and annoyed.

Almost half of his funds go to things that he would never let down his throat. How sad. But getting home, he wouldn't dare touch any of it and keep it in the refrigerator before deciding to go and find either a homeless person or a hungry dog to give the food away to.

He didn't like doing it too much since he found it tedious work to roam around the neighborhood all night but he thought it was a lot better to just give away the disgusting thing to someone who actually wants it rather than let it go to waste.

With his usual curiosity perking him up, Rin took one last glance at the poster and went into the shop. A few moments later, he came out with the green, melon flavored popsicle in a small bag hanging from his hand. 

After a few minutes of walking, the boy had finally gotten back to his apartment. Found in the run of the mill condo complex right at the second floor's very last door on the right side, the inside of Rin's home wasn't much.

Upon entering, one would see first the small, square table at the right side, surrounded by fluffy red pillows and sitting right before the small TV propped on top of a small and red rectangular cabinet. Though it was cheap, its smooth wooden surface felt good to Rin's touch.

On the left side was the kitchenette, its walls lined with low floor cabinets, one of them topped with four gas burners and the others topped with smooth counters sitting below two more cabinets attached to the wall.

Right between the living room and the kitchen was a short hallway leading towards three rooms. The left one was the bathroom, the right one was an extra room Rin had used for storage and the middle one was the bedroom.

Hearing the door and the locks click shut, Rin opened the lights, yawning as he carefully pulled off his sneakers and placed them right beside the red door. There was a smirk on his face.

"How'd you even get in here?" he loudly asked as he glanced at the window beside the door, seeing that it was still locked, just like he left it.

No one answered at first but he knew who it was. The familiar lavender perfume masking the scent of a very dangerous ghoul.

At first, worry and slight fear slithered into his chest. Rin never realized that she actually resided here now.

' _Time to be more careful again_.'

There was a shifting sound from his bedroom, the sheets of his futon moving against each other. A low and feminine groan wisped through the apartment and Rin had to repress another grin.

' _She's still as carefree as ever_.' He thought, quietly moving towards his bedroom, the lavender scent growing stronger and more appealing than before.

Sighing, he stopped at the doorway, leaning coolly against it as he smirked at the purple haired girl sitting in his futon like a little child and wrapped in thick sheets, her fair shoulders as equally bare as her skin exposed up to her upper thighs.

She gave Rin a dainty smile, carefully placing her red glasses over her delicate nose. Rin blinked for a moment as she tucked a thick strand of her hair behind an ear, revealing the mole nestled beautifully under her right eye.

"Good morning, Rin."

Despite feeling slightly nervous and confused, Rin returned the smile with his usual lop sided smirk, his brown eyes glinting with the mischievousness the young woman was greatly familiar with. "Good morning, Rize."

Nonchalantly, he walked further into the room and closed the door, noticing the white blouse hung over the purple sweater and the longer purple skirt hanging from its back.

Rin froze up for a moment. Was she naked under there?

Placing the plastic bag on top of the wooden drawers and cabinets, momentarily forgetting the ice cream he had. He fully turned back to Rize Kamishiro now watching her take Rin's favorite mug from the side table, carefully sipping the black coffee through delicate lips.

The girl grinned for a moment, giving the long lashed stare to Rin who subtly raised a brow in return.

"You're still very good at making coffee," she said, her soprano, honeyed voice definitely something Rin delighted to hear this morning. "I'm impressed, Rin."

The boy gave single thankful nod and continued to stare at the girl who simply seemed oblivious of his confusion. Either that or she just didn't care.

When she didn't even give a hint of explaining herself, Rin smiled smugly to himself, coolly crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side, his hair shuffling to the movement.

"Is this another fling?"

A flash of slight surprise spread on the girl's face and Rin had to let himself snicker.   
Of course, she easily recovered her usual cool and chuckled back, flashing a half-lidded look to the boy and tilting her head to the side, causing her thick purple hair to shuffle over her shoulders and expose the smoothness of her neck.

"You want to?" she asked with a voice colored in haughtiness.

Rin had to let himself laugh, unable to control the shaking of his shoulders and the light husky laugh fluttering from his lips.   
She always was a tease.

"We both know that phase between us is long gone." He replied, recalling the last conversation he had with the girl.

She just finished her fifth hunt of the week and Rin was just doing some errands when they passed each other. A moment later, Rize revealed that she was going to leave the ward on the same day Rin decided to end the relationship between them and leave as well.

"What are you doing here, Rize-chan?" Rin finally asked, keeping his distance from the girl and sitting atop the drawers.

Though they are on (very) good terms and it was probably unlikely that she'd attack him right now, the girl was still an unpredictable storm and Rin always had to be careful with his hunting when they were still in the same ward. He knew about her reputation and preferred not getting on her bad side.

She noticed the way he kept his distance and chuckled to herself, looking smug as she pulled the mug close to her lips again. "Don't be so nervous, Rin." She said, "I'm only here to talk."

"About what?"

Placing the mug back on the side table, she carefully moved to stand, letting the sheets fall off her body and exposing her fair and flawless skin as she gracefully walked towards her clothes, aware that Rin was watching her every move, both to see if she was going to impale him with her rinkaku and just to enjoy the curves of her body.

Looking at her now, he still couldn't believe that Rize had snapped up his flirts and let herself spend a night with him and let their fling last for a week. Obviously, he did something  _very_  right on their first night together.

Remembering other more private elements in their relationship, Rin had to control the hotness on his face as he was finally able to pull his eyes away from Rize.

"A lot of people are talking about how Cheetah suddenly disappeared." She said, "all the ghoul investigators are still looking for you and they all know your name."

She'd been watching the news and had known bits about Rin's fight with Amon Koutarou and his "kidnapping" of a little boy. All the humans were stunned by the mere fact that the boy was left unharmed. Though she didn't say it, Rin could hear the question in her voice.

How was he still alive and not having Doves nipping at his heels?

He shrugged his shoulders and decided to let her in on his little secret. "I was never registered as a citizen."

A precaution his father had thought about when he and his brother were born. Both of them were never put in the family register while he and his brother were taken into the world merely by the hands of their father. Adding to that, their parents had also told people that they had tried for children but they never survived long enough to be born. So they pretty much never existed.

Thanks to that and the fact that their family was attached to someone who was good at hiding and making identities, Rin was able to freely live his life outmaneuvering people with fake names and tons of disguises.

So even if that muscle man yapped to his superiors about a ghoul named Ishikawa Rin, they would only be greeted by a non-existent citizen and would be left puzzling about who Cheetah really is.

Rize blinked at him, looking slightly surprised for a moment before she looked away, a smirk on her face as she pulled the dress over herself.

"So they will still never be able to track you down." she said out loud, sounding impressed. Rin gave a simple grin in return. Since he also had a complete make-over before getting to the 20th ward, he was much more positive that he had totally disappeared from the noses of the Doves.

Taking a breath, rin headed to the futon now, already straightening the sheets the stray cat has left for him to clean up.

"So, what else did you want to talk about?" he asked, ignoring the way Rize watched him quickly fix up the futon before darting about the room, failing to hide his usual fastidious nature.

Once he had fixed the room to his satisfaction, he faced the girl and moved back to the cabinets, standing right before the purple haired ghoul. Rin knit his brows together for a bit. "You wouldn't be here just to talk about that."

For a moment, Rize was quiet, simply studying the boy and noting how bulkier he had gotten over the time they haven't seen each other. Back then, he seemed to be a lanky, school boy. Now, he had a build just like that of a swimmer-lean and lithe and she was more than aware that he was fully capable of beating her in a fight all the while enjoying every single moment of it.

Looking at the clock, she smiled, moving towards the cabinet and taking Rin's brush from the first drawer, smoothing her hair with it.

"It seems that you're planning to settle down here." she said. Rin nodded in return, successfully hiding the slight worry growing under his skin.

Purple eyes glanced up at him now, gleaming with the usual slyness hiding the raging storm of threat. She was doing well in masking it on her face but Rin could feel it thick in the air. 'Don't bother me here.' was the message she was sending and the air was practically shimmering with the haughty threat. Rin wanted to roll his eyes.   
She could've just pointed her kagune right at his neck for all he cares.

"How long will you be here?" Rize asked, the tension rising like a thick fog in the room.

Rin smiled at her in return. "Don't worry." he said with an assuring tone, "as always, I won't bother your hunting."

The girl giggled in return, the air instantly lightening.

"You always were such a pushover." Rize sighed, sounding slightly sad all the while teasing the boy with a pout on her full lips.

Rin simply scoffed at her in reply. "Anything else?" he asked, watching her already taking her purse, pulling out what looked like lip gloss.

"Why here?" she asked, this time it was only out of curiosity. Rin shrugged his shoulders in return. It's been a long while since he last visited the 20th ward. Even then, the place was still more peaceful and silent than the other wards. As if hearing his thoughts, Rize smirked at him.

"Time to take a little breather from your run away life?" she asked.   
At first, Rin thought the girl was trying to taunt him in some way, possibly calling him a coward for living a life so fake and full of disguises. It probably was what she meant but Rin shrugged it off.

It was too early to start a fight. And he still didn't want to mess up his relationship with the girl. He knew that she would probably take advantage of him sometime but he can always easily throw that back and ask her for favors too.

Oblivious of his thoughts, Rize snickered, looking fresher than ever now.

"Don't stress too much, Rin." She said, "Jin would hate to see you running away too much."

At the mention of his brother, Rin froze for a moment, remembering that she was probably the only person who personally knew Ishikawa Jin-his brother and the reason that he's hated those detestable ghoul investigators so much.   
Feeling the burning growing on his chest, Rin struggled to compose himself and swallowed, nonchalantly placing both elbows back on the table top and not wanting to show that Rize was able to so easily push on his weak spot.

Rin knit his brows together, suddenly remembering a good question when he saw Rize's shoes. He left his house two hours ago.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

Rize simply grinned back in return, sashaying towards him before placing a gentle hand on his cheek. Rin watched her, stilling himself and simply let her soft lips press and move against his, her arms slowly snaking around his neck and her fingers seductively tangling through his hair. Rin let her do what she wanted, keeping his hands away from her body as her lips continued to let Rin take hold of the kiss and deepen the feeling tingling deeply in his stomach.

With the way everything was happening, Rin knew that this was going to be the last kiss that they shared. It was her way of ending things and Rin wasn't complaining. He never did last long in relationships.

After a long while, Rize leaned away, looking smug and satisfied as the usual smirk stretched across her now slightly red face. Rin smirked back, silently patting himself on the back and hiding the self-pleasure trying to burst from his face.

Judging by the way Rize's eyes seemed to gleam with a familiar mischievousness, he had a feeling that he still had great skill in kissing. Rin suddenly chuckled.

"You didn't answer my question." He pointedly said.

Rolling her eyes a bit, she moved towards the door, pulling on her heels before opening the door and glancing at Rin from the corner of her eye.

"Long enough for you not to forget about me so easily." she winked, her voice coated with a playfulness that simply made Rin's eyes go wide, an animal-like instinct curling deep in his stomach.

"See you around, my dear Rin." She called out, leaving the boy in his own room, listening to his front door opening and closing. He stared at the futon, stupefied.

Blinking and thinking about what she had said, the boy's eyes went horribly wide once again, a hotness bursting on his face as he smelled a very familiar and intimate scent radiating from the sheets on his bed.

Though the visit was most probably to threaten and tell him to keep out of her business, Rin's entire self was shaking with laughter as he shook his head at how bold Rize Kamishiro was.

Now he remembered how crazy (and exhausting) it as to be with her for one entire week.

How adventurous his stay in the 20th ward is going to be.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I love my baby, my child, my poor tragedy so much, here's a very perfect picture I found from (https://65.media.tumblr.com/068ab07245a87f3000954f423148a228/tumblr_n1r68mS7OT1sjp98ho1_500.jpg)  
> I know there's no bath scene here (and I don't know who this anime character is) but, hey, the pic suits his description, don't you think? *wink wink*


	4. Riddle Me This.

[A perfect picture I found of Ishikawa Jin](http://favim.com/media/uploads/images/orig/140323/anime-boy-black-and-white-boy-illustration-Favim.com-1530514.png)

After the strange visit Rize Kamishiro had blessed him with and a good four hour long nap that followed quickly after, the boy was left sitting in his room, drowsy as he simply stared into the air, thinking of what to do for the rest of the day.

At the present, he was working as a freelance photographer named Erin Murakami. To get more money to that, Rin was also recruited in a band, suddenly being called to work with four other boys when they saw and heard him fooling around with the drums at one music cafe he once visited. So since both of his jobs didn't have a permanent time frame, he was as free as a bird today.

' _School?_ ' he thought. He scoffed right after. School was out of the question. He would lose his invisibility.

Since he wasn't a registered citizen and his mother was a very paranoid woman who never failed to worry about her children's lives, she never let them go to school. Her mother was sold by the idea of them being invisible from human eyes. She thought like their father that, yes, it would make their lives easier.

Other than that, registering for school would instantly begin a questioning of why he and his brother were never registered as citizens in the first place. Then surely, the most dangerous question would be brought up.

"Are they ghouls?"

So, they were forced to learn all they could from their mother's books. She was an avid reader and would buy all the second hand books she could get her hands on while their father was actually one of the top college graduates from Kamii University's department of Medicine. So it wasn't such a problem to learn just as much as normal students.

Rin could still remember the smell of their mother's study. The faint scent of lemon in the air accompanied by the robust musk of the pages of old books.

Rin felt a small smile rise on his face, his lids sleepily falling lower again before he sighed and closed his eyes, carefully lying back down on the bed, the thought of sleeping again finally sounding a lot more irresistible than before.

' _Jin's favorite was that weird manga mom found_.' Was it Death Note? Something about a red eyed demon who loves apples...and a guy with a messiah complex...Jin never got to finish it and Rin never got over him not being able to do so.

Right then, his cell phone started ringing, the sound of the alarm crashing through his ears and shattering his peaceful thoughts.

Rin groaned loudly, stretching his arm out to the foldable side table vibrating loudly right next to his head.

"Fuck." He hissed when he couldn't feel his phone. After a few more agonizing seconds of high pitched ringing, his palms came across, not his phone, but something smooth and short.

Knitting his brows, he finally sat up, bouncing back up on his bum like a spring. With a grimace on his face, he rubbed a hand over his features and looked up from under long lashes and froze.

The alarm stopped ringing and the air turned stale with silence.

Under his hand was a photograph.

He blinked, dazed as he pulled his hand farther away and almost stopped breathing to see his brother staring right at him.

Someone must've caught him in the middle of a nap but even so, he still looked like the younger version of Rin working as a supermodel. Rin despised that. Despite Rin actually being the younger one, Jin still managed to make it look like he was the fountain of youth turned human (well, a not so human).

Under the mess of light blonde hair, Ishikawa Jin stared at the camera with a half-lidded gaze and Rin caught himself feeling the pained expression on his own face, the thing in his chest suddenly wringing itself after a long time of it staying frozen and numb as his eyes stared right at the thick and pale brows hovering over long lashes sitting above orbs that seemed to be almost the color of bronze.

Despite the argument of humans stating that ghouls were only savage animals incapable of feeling, all Rin could feel now was the all too human squeezing of his heart.

Under the slight stinging pain, Rin was suddenly struck with cold confusion.

Where did this picture come from?

It's been such a long time, specifically three years since he last let himself look at his brother's face again. The last time he saw Jin, he was still the same rowdy nineteen year old getting himself into all kinds of trouble. The only difference now was that, Rin was rowdier and back then, he still had his older brother to scold him and keep him in check.

And because his death was such a shock and Rin couldn't contain all the anger, the mix of emotions that never stopped spilling from his eyes whenever he saw his brother's face, the boy decided to just erase everything. Everything that showed that he had a brother because he wanted to forget the skewering pain that broke through his cool façade every single time. Being the non-sentimental person that he was, it was quite easy to do but still, Rin couldn't shake the weakness that was the memory of his brother.

So how and why was he holding that weakness right now?

Rin was a very meticulous person. Especially when he moved out of houses. So he was positive there was no way he could've bought a picture with him by accident.

Looking up, a name rung in his head and the woman with thick purple hair flashed in his mind.

His lips slightly parted in thought, Rin stared at the mug next to the photograph, seeing the lip stick stain on the rim.

He furrowed his brows. ' _Rize_?'

It made sense. The only person who had ever come in here was Rize, (and she wasn't even invited.) so how else would it get on top of his table?

A moment later, annoyance flared in his chest, sparking like those tiny crackling fireworks he used to play with as a child.

"How the hell did you get this?"

Did she leave it on purpose? One thought quickly pulled into his mind. The first thing he would think of everyone who tried to talk to him with a smirk and a cocky attitude.

Was she trying to taunt him somehow?

Rin set his jaw, the annoyance slowly swirling into a deep fog of hatred. Though they were only together for a week, he had mentioned Jin to her when she had wondered about his life, asking about his family. He didn't want to say it at first, but he told her about his brother and carelessly mentioned his name. Soon after, their conversation was steered into what kind of person Ishikawa Jin was and how he passed.

But even Rin failed to know exactly how he died.

"I just know that he was killed by someone." Rin had told Rize one rainy afternoon. It was a very short conversation and Rin made it ridiculously obvious that he didn't want to talk more about Jin so obviously, Rize had to know what kind of effect Rin's brother had on him.

Through the growing haze of anger rolling around the room now, Rin carefully shut his eyes. Controlling the demonic feeling in him and tried to think of why she would leave this picture here.

Turning the photograph, a note was written in superbly graceful script and Rin had instantly gone numb after reading it, his heart beating wild hotness into his veins.

"Don't you wanna know how he died?"

He didn't want to. And he spat at the idea, telling himself that it was a waste of time and continued with going berserk through all the wards, killing anyone he wanted.

And although he didn't want to admit it, Rin had a feeling that by trying to find out more about how his brother died, the anger in him would only grow and fester into something more horrible than what he already was.

...He preferred to take things concerning murderous tendencies slow and steady.

Taking a very deep breath, Rin shut his eyes, exhaling through his nose and tossing the photograph back on the table, pushing his face into his palms and groaning at the words scrawled at the back of the picture.

' _Do you want to?_ '

"No." he hissed to himself, feeling the hotness growing around his neck as his heart started to thump loudly in his ears. Soon, his arms were shaking. He didn't want to know. No way.

' _Forget it_.' gritting his teeth, he suddenly growled like a feral bear and suddenly hated the thought of the purple haired girl.

"Are you taunting me?" he hissed through gritted teeth, already feeling his eyes heating up. They were black now, his pupils a burning red with his anger that refused to let him think clearly.

Growling to himself and grinding his teeth so hard it started to hurt, Rin urged himself to calm down and think.

It's been a very long time since he's gotten this angry and it wasn't good. As much as possible, he didn't want to have to try and kill Rize out of hatred. Other than she was  _very_  strong, she was also his one companion and he found that he could confide in the girl too every once in a while.

' _She probably did it to help me out._ ' he thought soothingly. To help him out from this weakness of his. That's why she gave it to him.

After a long moment of deep and slow breaths, Rin finally calmed down, feeling his eyes cooling down.

' _Think_.'

And his mind started to tick. If he ever chose to try and find out how Jin died, it would be hideously tedious.

Though he loved his brother and the other loved him too, the man was unbelievably, superbly secretive and refused to tell even Rin about what he was doing with his life. Thinking about it himself, Rin had thought too that it was impossible for Jin to keep his life in such a tightly sealed box. And from his own little brother! But somehow, Jin made it laughably possible.

After their parents had died, Jin had gotten much more distant from Rin, making less jokes and looking more serious and filled with purpose. But still, he did extremely well in providing allowance for his little brother.

The only downside was, because of his secretive life and the fact that he suddenly disappeared from home one day and refused to contact Rin except on special occasions and to ask if he was doing fine, Rin grew to hate him.

Leaving him alone to fend for himself, Rin hated his brother for it even when he already knew that it was only to help Rin out when he was still working as a very poorly paid busboy in some restaurant.

Rin only asked once what Jin was doing to get all that money and he only got a simple and gentle smile in response. After that cryptic response, Jin's life was an impregnable fortress, refusing to say anything and simply ignoring Rin whenever he asked. Even when they were already fighting, Jin was more stubborn than a five year old refusing to have his hair cut for the first time.

Rin never asked again, also giving up on trying to track down his brother's whereabouts.

But now, because of this photograph, this cursed photograph...Rin wanted to know. The room suddenly felt inhospitably cold.

Slowly pulling up his face from his palms, he glanced at the picture with a half lidded stare. Carefully, he took out an arm and turned the picture over, seeing his brother's face again.

Since he had no friends and knew literally nothing about Jin's life, no one ever told him about his death. He just knew it was murder by someone who was strong enough to pull him down into nothingness.

In the back of his head, a voice tugged violently at him.

' _Don't do it_.' it whined, ' _stop poking your nose in it._ '

But a stronger and deeper voice pushed through it, its tone coated with harsh and cold fury.

' _Who killed you?_ ''

Without a second thought, Rin had grabbed his jacket from the hanger, lithely striding to the front door and out with the picture stuffed gingerly in his jacket pocket.

To get some leads, he had to find Rize and he didn't want to wait for  _her_  to come back with a sly grin on her face.

 


	5. Bargains and Threats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Heavy cussing. If you're a child, don't read. If you're reading it anyway, DO NOT COPY RIN...HE'S A HORRIBLE ROLE MODEL.

Walking down the streets, Rin tried to control his expression with a hard grit of his teeth. Everyone was starting to stare but the boy continued walking onwards, thinking of where Rize could have gone.

"What a scary glare." One human who passed had said.

Rin thought that the guy probably said it out of shock and just couldn't help himself from saying it with such a loud voice but Rin started to get the feeling that the guy was telling him out right to calm down. Which was quite impossible at the moment that the impatient heat was curling around his neck. He tried not to stick out a rude finger at the stranger.

 _'Dumbass.'_  He hissed to himself, gritting his teeth and pulling his head up, attempting to soften his gaze. He sighed and dropped his head again.

There was no way he could be patient now that he had a lead for his brother's death-the lead which was threatening to snap off and totally disappear like a spider's silken string.

He should've asked where Rize was going before she left and since that girl was a lot like him-someone who just loves moving all over the place, she could probably be in another ward by now.

Like rubies under the glare of the sun, his eyes suddenly brightened over blackness.

Feeling the hotness in them, he quickly pulled his head down, calming himself and trying to bring down the pulse thumping on his pale neck. It was too bright a day to suddenly let his eyes go black and red at the sudden idea that blinked in his head.

Rin grinned to himself. ' _I did ask for her number before_.'

Feeling around his pockets, he blinked and literally froze mid-walk, letting the few people move against him as he stood like a rock in the middle of a smooth, flowing river, utterly shocked at himself.

His phone wasn't in his pockets.

Blinking with a slight shock that ate at him like a nibbling insect, he sighed, finally moving again, this time feeling disheartened.

' _I must've left it at home_.' It wasn't a usual thing for him to lose or forget about anything since the last time Rin forgot about something, he nearly had his head get snapped up by a crazy ghoul that kept screaming: "CAT, CAT! I WANNA TASTE THE BIG CAT!"

Looking up from his lashes, Rin straightened himself once again and ignored the way people stared at the straightness of his back, the way he held his chin up and projected a self confidence that still didn't topple towards arrogance even after all the gossips he's heard about himself.

To normal people, most of them were unpleasant. But Rin loved being a ghoul that everyone was terrified of and delighted in hearing the gasps and stunned silence they gave back when their fellow humans talked about how his victims were found partially eaten with one of their eyes gouged out, stabbed cleanly by his kagune. Hearing the way everyone reacted to him, he always beamed. It gave him a sense of power and pride.

Huffing, Rin glanced around, puffing his lower lip out in a pout. Since he was missing his trusty gadget, the ghoul had to go full on old school detective mode in this goose chase.

Trying to analyze each shop, he wondered if they would be the kinds the purple haired woman would walk right into.

Right as he was searching, he blinked, stopping right before a two storey building. There wasn't anything seemingly special about it, just that there was a short, standing lamp propped next to a plain looking plant. But even from outside the wooden door he was staring at, he could smell the faint scent of warm coffee brewing. Though it was tough to his nose, the feeling after taking in a hearty breath melted exquisitely in Rin's lungs. Blinking, he read the words scrawled on the lamp.

"Anteiku"

With another deep breath that filled with the smell of black coffee, Rin shrugged, easily tempted by the smell of roasting coffee. ' _What the hell. I guess she can wait_.' he thought right before twisting the knob, pushing into the café.

Upon his entrance, a quiet bell rang gently through the cold room and Rin could only take a long, deep breath, reveling in the smell of coffee. Without a second thought, the boy quickly let his guard down, feeling totally at ease for some reason.

Was it the coolness of the room's air? Or the soothing brown and cream colors of the walls? Maybe it was the coffee. It's been a long time since he's smelled something other than putrid ghoul meat.

Hearing the bell, the employees instantly greeted him with the usual, "Good afternoon, welcome to Anteiku!"

With the bright and welcoming smiles of the employees, Rin gave a minute nod just to show some gratitude for the kindness that he never deserved.

The café wasn't fully occupied, there were only a few people around, some talking leisurely with another person with bright smiles, some surrounded by more humans as they had laptops propped on the table, tapping on their keyboards like robots and some were sitting alone...reading a book at the corner of the room.

Rin froze and almost skipped towards the person reading the said book. With wide eyes, Rin wondered if this was his lucky day.

A grin cracking on his face, he instantly moved towards the girl, taking long legged strides with such quickness, Rize didn't realize he was already sitting on the chair opposite of hers, his brown eyes gaze gleaming with the usual haughtiness and successfully hiding the growing annoyance.

To think he got so worked up about losing track of the girl! The café was quite close to his own home so he shouldn't have worried at all.

Rin sighed, trying not to laugh at the shocked look on Rize's face as she pulled her nose up from the book.

"I should've asked where you were going." Rin said and flashed his winning smirk, exposing the weird sharpness of his canine teeth. "Let's talk more."

For a moment, Rize looked a little confused. Well, with his sudden appearance, she had to recollect herself and remember that she wasn't staring at a mischievous ghost.

After a second, the girl regained her calm and coolly looked back down at the book, not minding the fact that Rin's face was close enough for him to plant a small kiss on her forehead.

Ignoring his smirk, Rize took a light breath and carefully took the coffee cup to her lips before she pulled up purple eyes at the boy who instantly shuddered under his skin as he saw her look.

Her gaze seemed kind enough to the few people staring at them in slight embarrassment and shock at their closeness, but Rin couldn't help but feel like he had awakened a very angry snake that hadn't slept or eaten for days.

"I thought you said you wouldn't bother me." her honeyed voice quietly said before she sipped some coffee, the thickness in the air tense enough to make Rin swallow. But he didn't want to back down from the poisonous air.

Easily, he waved away the intimidating aura she was trying to push at him and shrugged his shoulders, pulling away a bit to take the photograph from his pockets.

"Yes, I did say that." Rin said and placed the photo of his brother before Rize.   
She glanced down at the picture. A small smile twitched at the corner of her lips and Rin had to control the hotness bubbling dangerously under his skin at the sight of it.

' _If only I saw you walking near an alley,_ ' he thought, ' _If only there weren't any humans around to see my face and know who I am just by my kagune. If only I didn't forget my fucking, goddamn mask at home!_ '

If all these circumstances weren't there, Rin would've grabbed her neck and slammed her to the floor.

' _Then again, I don't mind killing everyone in here too_.'

Rin gritted his teeth, looking away from Rize to control his bullish thoughts. Propping his elbows on the table and burying his fists under his arms, he swallowed.

"I would've done well on my promise but you left this."

Rize grinned, looking up through long and thick lashes. "Don't like the photo?"

The boy instantly shot her a warning glance, his brown eyes darkening under his long fringe.

If Rize was able to intimidate anyone with a beautiful, feminine smile, Rin was able to do so with a single and silent, dark eyed stare. It wasn't even a glare but Rize could see the message he was conveying, clearer than polished glass.

'Joke again and I'll snap your neck.'

Rin knew that Rize wasn't intimidated. But he knew that she and almost every other ghoul in each ward he's visited were aware of his capabilities. He wasn't called 'Cheetah' just for the black spotted, golden hoodie that once hid his thick blonde fringe.

Being a superbly fast rinkaku type, the boy was known for his attacks that instantly killed thanks to his knowledge of the vital spots of each human and ghoul body. Because of his knowledge and capability to kill anyone once he decides on it, any ghoul, even Rize knew better than to egg him on into a fight. Especially since these days, Rin was starting to get crazy again.

His last ghoul victim was one he tortured first before killing. A time span of a full three hours. He tortured the ghoul, not even grimacing at the grotesque way he left the body. He would have killed the ghoul with a quick slash...but the guy called him 'a little shit'.

Staring at Rize, Rin knew that she was feeling  _a little_  wary. With the way she had frozen under his gaze, it was obvious she was slightly on her guard but of course, her being Rize, he knew that she was also enjoying how much she was able to annoy him with one picture.

Now Rin was trying to think of a way to make her talk. He had an idea but it wasn't the best.

It would've been as easy as entering the café. Rin knew where everyone was standing and sitting.

As a ghoul that was constantly on the run, he was hyperaware of everything around him and could easily place everything without having to turn his eyes.

It would be so easy to just snap out two of his tendrils and slice off everyone's necks.

Without anyone else around him and Rize, he wouldn't have to worry about being secretive and look out for eavesdroppers too. It would probably piss Rize off but, well...She started this little game. Rin would oblige to end it for her.

' _Keep yourself civilized._ ' A voice hissed in his head.

He inwardly growled at it. Of course he would still focus on civility.

As much as possible, Rin didn't want to have to cause a scene and the coffee smelled excellent so it would've been a waste to kill the baristas.

Now, both of them were kept under the leash of civility and had to be good. Especially since Rin had realized that practically everyone was looking at them, wondering what they were talking about, some of them even murmuring together about him and Rize being a couple.

Rin wanted to laugh at their words.   
Other than he would never be in a romantic relationship that involved sweet kissing and pretty words, his relationship with Rize even as a friend with benefits was long gone. Rin had just demoted her to an acquaintance.

Carefully closing his eyes, he took a deep, soothing breath and looked back at Rize, slightly glaring but finally able to control his sudden negative thoughts.

"Where did you get this?" he finally asked in a low deepness of his voice that buzzed powerfully through Rize's skull. "I never gave you a photo of him. Where did you get it?"

Rize stared for a moment, gingerly closing her book but not saying a word as she minutely glanced at the table behind Rin.

Rin hadn't even realized it, but a few tables behind theirs, the black haired boy was still accompanied by the blonde. Right now, the black haired boy was giving flighty glances at Rize, looking slightly dejected at Rin's arrival.

"If you tell me now, I'll leave you alone." He said. Thinking that he had read her mind, Rize looked back up at Rin who now seemed a little calmer than before.

Regarding his usual, stoic look, Rize blinked and breathed out, lacing her elbows over the table and gently resting her chin on her palm.

"I really don't have any ambition with him, you know." She said, looking up at Rin through her lashes. Rin didn't say anything but under the thin sheet of doubt, Rize knew that the boy still hasn't pulled back the smoke of trust they have with each other.

"But I can't tell you right now."

Rin almost slammed a fist on the table.

Stopping himself from bursting, he finally lost his cool look and simply leaned back on the chair, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted as he stared at Rize, his eyes bathing in exasperation.

At first, Rin thought she was just having fun with him, as usual, he thought that the ghoul was probably having a lot of fun twirling him around her little finger, loving to see him on his toes now that she knew what pushed his buttons so easily.

But after a few moments of staring at her and watching the way she held herself, he finally realized why she didn't want to talk and why she really didn't want him here right now. Rize swallowed, pulling her book back to her face and reading again. Rin took a light breath and instantly stopped it, amazed that he realized it only now.

He was expecting to smell a delicious little human but something unexpected hit his senses.

There was another ghoul in the room, the scent mixing subtly within the scent of human skin and coffee. That was strange.

Nonchalantly, the boy looked around the café, taking in careful breaths. One after another, the smell of ghouls had grown all around Rin, popping all over the place like geysers. It started to make him tense, his eyes darkening like a wary cat's.

Taking in slow breaths, Rin was hit with a sudden realization that shocked him to the point that his gaze literally shot towards one of the female employees who he now noticed was staring right at him as she stood behind the bar counter. It wasn't a glare but it wasn't admiring either and with that single look and the scent of another ghoul masked by the aroma of black coffee, Rin almost scoffed.

He felt the tension leave from his shoulders as he looked away from the girl.

' _This café is run by ghouls?_ '

Looking around, the entire situation he was in was much too hilariously ironic for him. Ghouls serving humans who are simply unaware of the fact that the person sitting next to them was actually a cannibal? What kind of farce was this?

He looked back at Rize who was watching him, her purple eyes gleaming with a slight, growing annoyance. It hit him like a rock slung from a slingshot. With the humans he's seen around here, the café seemed to be a good hunting ground and noting the way Rize had looked over his shoulder a few moments ago, she must've had a target already.

' _So she was in the middle of hunting_.'

Realizing that he could probably be eviscerated for this outburst of his, Rin gave away a good natured smile, taking the photo from the table and carefully putting it back in the safety of his pocket. He didn't want to anger the lion anymore and lose his one lead of information, now did he?

Right then, Rize said, "I'll tell you later, Rin." and a dainty smile that seemed too sweet and too out of character spread on her face. Rin shuddered at how much of a great actress she was. "I promise."

The last two words were quite unexpected but Rin took her word for it. Though she did tease him a lot, Rin knew that Rize would never stoop so low to break a promise. With that in his mind, Rin momentarily felt his heartbeat go slower, his shoulders dropping a bit with slight relaxation.

"Alright." He started and watched the way Rize shifted in her seat as he got up from his own seat and turned his back to her. "Let's just talk again later." He quietly said, careful not to let anyone else hear. "Drop by the house once you're free."

Moving away from the table, Rin glanced back at her from over his shoulders, "I'll see you later." This time, he gave her a close eyed smile like that of a loving little brother, an impossibly wide grin spreading on his face. "... _onee-san_!"

Rize almost shuddered in her seat, holding down a grimace at the boy's acting.

After his short talk with Rize, Rin had decided to go to a bookstore. For some reason, he started getting interested in books again. It's been a long while since he's read a book for his own leisure and he was also stating to like the neighborhood.

Pulling his gaze up towards the low branches green with thin leaves, Rin let loose a long breath and instantly let the thought of settling down sit in his head.

It's not like it was a bad idea. It's been months since Cheetah and Ishikawa Rin had disappeared. And so far, no one has thought that his midnight hair was once a flashy golden blonde. He was a completely new person named Erin Murakami who, so far, has been living a perfectly quiet human life.

Watching the pavement move under his steady gaze, Rin felt the cool breeze carefully run soothingly through his hair, easily lifting up his bangs and letting the wind smooth through it like a lover's careful hand.

For a moment, he wanted to become a human and loathed the eyes that could turn red over midnight.

' _Why couldn't I have been normal?_ '

It all would've been so easier if he wasn't a ghoul.

' _It would've been easier if humans just accepted us_.' another cool voice said in his head.

Carefully closing his eyes, Rin pulled out the picture from his pocket and stared at his brother's face. The ache was still there whenever he looked into his brother's eyes. It was still painful to think about how he could disappear so suddenly from this world without even a single goodbye.

He  _had_  to know what happened to him.

Now in his house, sprawled gracefully like a European prince over an extra futon he had dragged into the living room, Rin yawned then looked up at the clock.

It was already past 7 and Rize still hasn't called.   
Was she binge eating again?  
Rin made a face, resting a cheek on his palm.   
' _Most probably_.'

After a while of listening to the clock tick, his long legs started to ache. It's been a few hours since he's been home and he was already bored with the TV.

Pulling up, Rin put on his sneakers, taking his black jacket from the hanger at the back of the door before shutting off all the appliances and left his house.

Since it was already night time, humans were scarce. Most of the ones he had passed were making their way home either from school or from work.

Reveling in the cold night air, Rin listened to the quiet movement of his shoes over the smooth pavement, staring right ahead and not even bothering to give a glance to the group of schoolgirls giving him flirty glances and giggles.

Passing them, he almost smiled.

 _'You wouldn't do that if you knew what I really was_.'

Now alone, Rin was left with his thoughts that started reeling back into settling into this neighborhood. Would he be able to take staying in one place?

He's been a nomad ever since he could remember and it surely wouldn't be easy. But with his current mission of finding more about his brother, he had to stay in the 20th ward for a long time. He didn't know much about his brother but he did have one tiny bit of information.

The last time Rin asked where Jin was, his older brother had answered that he was in the 20th ward.

"You don't have to come and visit." Rin remembers him saying, "I'd be leaving soon afterwards anyway."    
As usual, Rin had no clue as to why he was here and he didn't bother to ask anymore.

So that was his one lead and it wasn't even reliable since Jin moved around a lot too.

Looking up, Rin found that he was already walking past a playground just found on the other side of the green wire fence next to him. Furthering his gaze, he found the large tree looming over one side of the fence, its size gargantuan enough to keep its long, sinewy branches over both the colorful playground and the dark, cold street on the other side.

The neighborhood was nice. Rin wouldn't be surprised if Jin decided to just stay here. Though it hurt to think that his brother didn't want him to tag along and live with him, Rin just waved a way the thought. Jin always did like being alone despite his slightly noisy and bright nature. 

Rin could settle down here. The neighborhood was quiet, his apartment was nice. It could be nicer if he got more money and better furniture, but if he wanted to stay here, he had to know 'the basics'.

1\. He had to know how to eat human food.

Rin had forgotten about the ice cream he had left in his room but since it was so cold, it thankfully didn't melt and he was able to place it in the fridge.

' _I should taste it later_.' The thought was probably insane to any ghoul but Rin always was eccentric and liked doing strange things now and again.   
He's seen some ghouls eat human food in public before and they didn't even seem slightly bothered by it. He wondered if he'd be able to do that too.

Even when he was a child, he never tried it. His mother said he didn't have to and she was right. He was almost never out of the house unlike his more energetic brother and enjoyed life under the roof.

He would start with something light...Maybe a peanut butter sandwich?

Rin felt the saliva pooling in his mouth in utter disgust. He saw what peanut butter looked like once and smelled it. It was like stuffing his nose into a toilet full of shit. Maybe just the bread was enough.

"God." He gasped out loud, feeling the grimace one his face as he continued walking through the streets, passing by shops now and again.

' _What would the second basic be?_ ' he asked himself and was instantly answered by the sound of a human boy running past him and shouting at another boy far ahead of Rin.

"Sousuke!" the running boy called him.

' _Ah, right_.'

2\. He had to have a permanent name and be known as a human.

Well, this wasn't going to be hard. He already had a name. Erin Murakami.

He was running out of money at that time since he'd been sprinting around the wards as Cheetah and he wanted to disappear too. Back then, he didn't have a name other than Cheetah. And the muscle mass of CCG was the only one who knew him as Ishikawa Rin. With his connections, Rin was able to arrange for a new name and an actual I.D.

So now, he was Erin the photographer/ drummer.

Rin perked his brows in satisfaction. All he needed now to confirm his humanness were human friends. Rin frowned at that for a bit.

Though he was in a band, he was usually the first to leave the music café and only talked to his band mates when it was about a song. He didn't even know their names and faces well enough. Well, he'd fix that soon.

Rin was about to think of the next thing but there was suddenly a whistling sound in the wind, a sudden difference of the feel in the air.

Knitting his brows, Rin turned to the sound and felt his stomach lurch as something hard and thick hit his torso, making him gag at the sudden, hard sensation pummeling into his skin like an anvil.

He was flung backwards, finding himself literally flying backwards into an infinitely dark alleyway before he finally stopped flying, smashing against steel garbage cans and falling back into the trash, the sound of steel ringing and clanging annoyingly in Rin's ears.

A growl spat through his teeth, Rin felt his eyes pull wide open, his red eyes glowing ferally as he tried to find his attacker.

Before he could, his stomach started curling, a blinding, red hot pain bursting over his eyes as he heard the gruesome squelching sound echo in his ears.

A bikaku had stabbed right through his insides.

Rin gagged as his own blood rushed up his throat and through gritted teeth.

It hurt, but his anger didn't lose.

Easily swiping past the pain, Rin's eyes flashed open and found that standing right over him was a familiar man with crew cut hair, his red eyes wide and shaking with both fear and excitement.

Rin glared at the man. It's been months since he's seen the kid's stalker. Rin really should've killed the man when he had the chance.

"I've never eaten another ghoul before," the man said, his eyes glowing intense with hunger as the transparent string of saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, "But I'm sooooo hungry."

"Really?" asked Rin, his smooth and boyish voice dangerously low as his eyes darkened. Flaring under his skin and bubbling dangerously around his neck, the anger streamed through his entire body.

A menacing curve of a smile spread on Rin's face.

"I've eaten  _lots_ of ghouls."

The man was too slow to react and before he could even gasp, Rin's own kagune had wrapped around the other's neck, coiling tighter and tighter like a snake each time the man struggled and tried to scream.

Carefully, Rin straightened his back, gritting his teeth as he leaned on the garbage cans behind him, lazily smiling as he felt a chuckle bubble from his throat.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you, mister." Rin said, pulling the man higher up in the air so his bikaku couldn't reach Rin's face.

"The last time we met," Rin said, "you were frantically telling me that I could have the kid to eat."

The man stopped struggling for a moment, staring at the air with wide eyes for a long moment. They widened, impossibly looking as if they'd pop out of their sockets as he started shaking, whimpering with his mouth in a wide O.

"N-No way..." he trailed off his face pale with fear. Rin loved it, the feeling of excitement bubbling and whirling deep under his skin. Rin couldn't repress his dark laughter.

"CHEETAH IS DEAD!"

The man's head snapped to the side, he groaned. From below, Rin glared at the man, tightening his kagune's grip around the man's neck and letting another one of his kagune slip from his back, lazily whipping around like a cat's tail.

"Shut up." Rin hissed quietly. "I don't want people knowing I'm here. If you want to escape fast then I advise you to shut your mouth, piece of trash."

The look on Rin's face darkened and he felt the anger boiling in him again, growing hotter under the cool breeze of the night.

"You think you can fuckin' impale me and get the fuck away? _"_  Rin growled, touching the already healing wound on his stomach. "You're gonna wish you never lived, you shit."

"FUCK YOU!"

It was an unexpected reply. Rin stared at the man, impressed that he was being angry after all that he did to Rin. Carefully, Rin let his second kagune grow bigger and wider.

Watching it slithering towards the man and up his waist until it had fully wrapped around him, Rin reveled at the way his kagune glowed slightly in the darkness, the red veins pulsing like lava through the blackness of his kagune.

Right then, the man's eyes started to gleam, wider and brighter as the saliva dripped unto Rin's kagune.

"I'm hungry." He groaned, his entire self shaking as he tried to wiggle an arm out of Rin's grip.

  "Fuck you, I'm hungry. Let me eat. I wanna eat. I wanna eat. C'mon. Let me kill you, CHEETAAAAAAA-"

There was a loud snapping sound accompanied by a gruesome, wet crunching in Rin's wide kagune.

The man had stopped moving and was simply staring at Rin, his head lolling bonelessly to the side like a doll's.

"Aah, ahh...did you die?" Rin cooed, resting the back of his head on the cold steel as he stared up at the man still wrapped in his kagune now dripping with the thick redness that smelled like the familiar sourness.

"That was boring." Rin said to himself, cruelly waving the man's body around and watching the man's head snapping to a side then another, playing with the corpse like a rag doll.

"I thought I was gonna have more fun with a hungry ghoul."

Whatever he was thinking before the man came along was already long gone and only now did he realize that there were more ghouls again. Probably around four more.

It was easy to track them down because of the insane prickling of fear in the air.

They were close by, listening in on what was happening. One of them was probably a rinkaku type and was the one who threw Rin into the alleyway. Rin felt his gaze darken and staying quiet, Rin focused on the four lives. He could feel them. Paralyzed by fear at the strange ghoul their friend had called Cheetah.

Rin waited quietly, letting his wound heal for a moment as he pulled back his kagune, staring at the open alley before him, the red in his eyes momentarily gone and changed into the usual brown.

' _C'mon, I don't have all night_.'

A moment later, a head popped up from the side. Rin shuddered.

Another one popped out form the other side this time. The shudder grew stronger.

They muttered amongst each other and a third person appeared, boldly stepping between the two heads, in plain sight of Rin. Rin gritted his teeth, trying not to laugh.

' _Wait. Let them come_.' a voice gruesomely cooed from his head.

And finally, the three stepped into the alleyway. Calling for the man Rin had just killed and was now curled into a bloody ball at one side of the supremely dark alley.

Lastly, the fourth person finally appeared, trailing the three other ghouls cautiously approaching.

Like a mindless psychopath, Rin started shaking, his lip trembling like a leaf as the scent of the four ghouls grew stronger and stronger, their pungent aroma delicious to Rin's beastly state.

"Hello?" one of them called.

Like a flash of lightning, Rin was standing right before them all, an impossibly wide smile on his face as his four tendrils burst from his back and speared through the air, enveloping the four shocked ghouls like claws. His red eyes burning, glowing like rubies under the moon, the four ghouls could only gasp.

"Hello."   
  


The night air was suddenly bitter with the smell of ghoul's blood in the air. Touka stiffened but her friend continued to walk, talking about getting home and having a warm bath before doing hr algebra homework. Yoriko couldn't smell it, couldn't feel it. But Touka knew by the sick swirling in her stomach.

Someone was killing ghouls.

For the past few weeks, the 20th ward was peaceful. But now, Rize-the Binge eater was here and surely enough, that peace wouldn't last. Soon the Doves will be coming to try and capture her.

"What is it, Touka?" Touka blinked and glanced back at her friend, easily snapped back into the present with her question.

"Nothing." she simply said and continued walking with her, trying not to look nervous at the thought of Doves being close by.

She had dropped her friend off after a while and now, she was halfway home.

Passing an alleyway, Touka's eyes widened as she stopped, her breath halting as her entire self went rigid. The stench of blood was stronger than the cold air in the darkness of the alley. Through the blackness, Touka couldn't see anything but she could hear and feel it.

The sound of crunching, the dripping and plopping of blood unto the pavement. The air was stiff, thick with hatred and anger. There was a slithering sound and then a loud echoing sigh.

Touka froze, watching a young man emerge from the darkness. He looked like a normal teenager. Wearing black sneakers long, black jeans that perfectly suited his long legs and an immaculate white shirt paired with a loose, black jacket, no one would ever think he was strange.

Under the long and thick black fringe, the boy looked up at Touka. She flinched, wary of his brown eyed stare. In the back of her head, she thought he looked familiar. After a moment of thought, she finally remembered. He was a ghoul.

The boy sat with Rize Kamishiro this morning back at Anteiku.

They looked like friends but there was a moment when Touka was sure he would lash out on her. His bloodlust was off the charts and it made her nervous for a bit just to watch both of the ghouls stare each other down.

He looked normal but every nerve under the girl's skin was screaming at her to run away.

Rin stared back at the girl. Though he looked calm, his mind was still in his little venture in the alleyway-now bathed and splattered with the blood of ghouls.

' _The CCG should thank me for this._ ' he thought bitterly, recalling that he had carefully fixed their battered corpses, keeping their bodies leaning against one side of the alleyway in a neat row.

"Who are you?" the girl loudly asked, shaking him from his dazed thoughts.

Once Rin took a real, genuine look at the girl, he realized he knew her from somewhere. His brow perked a bit, remembering those long, dark bangs completely covering her right eye.

"I'm a customer from this morning." Rin said and resisted a chuckle, flashing a soft and kind smile at her. "I thought I gave off a stronger impression."

Touka narrowed her eyes at him, ignoring the seemingly kind smile he gave and tried to look over his shoulder. Staring hard, she still couldn't see clearly but there were silhouettes of people frozen as they leaned on the walls in the darkness.

The girl couldn't see anything but with enough thought and sniffing around, Touka thought that the guy was possibly one of those cannibals and was eating just a moment ago.

Though the stench of blood wafting behind him was so strong, it was painful to the nose, the boy's shirt was immaculately white. Not a speck of red on it.

After a moment of silence, she asked, "What did you do?" which Rin briskly replied with, "none of your business."

Touka glared at him for that, grinding her teeth together as they stared each other down.

Though she was feeling the slight intimidation slithering up her back, Touka grinded her teeth and walked past Rin who was too shocked with her actions to even do anything other than let his eyes follow the girl who boldly walked into the alley.

Once she stepped over the shadows, Touka froze, her eyes widening in reeling shock as the smell of ghoul's meat fouled the air. She tried to identify the ghouls but she didn't recognize them in any way.

Other than the fact that she really didn't know who they were, their corpses were drenched in so much blood and their limbs mangled by the brutality of an animal, Touka wouldn't be able to know who they were even if she tried. But one more thing shocked her.

' _He didn't eat them_.' she thought, carefully looking over her shoulder and staring at the guy who simply leaned on the wall, watching her with a bored, half-lidded stare. She shut her eyes for a moment, clenching her fist.

' _God, Rize the company you keep_.' He was a lot like her. Only, he probably killed just for sport. For a second, Yoriko's face flashed in Touka's mind. What if the guy killed more than ghouls?

There was a long silence between them and Rin could see that the girl was thinking of what to do with him, calculating as her brows kept knitting together. It wasn't like she should care though. They were strangers after all.

Since she wasn't making a move to go away, Rin straightened himself, not caring that he made her slightly flinch.

"Do you have some questions?" he asked, nonchalantly moving forward and easily waving away the girl's deadly glare as he approached.

She only stared up at him, driving away the shuddering under her skin as he stared down at her, brown eyes completely dark against the night sky.

' _I'm leaving_.' He thought lazily to himself.

"Who the hell are you?" Touka asked, her voice wrapped with anger this time as she gritted her teeth, trying to hold her ground.

With a careful and quiet tone, Rin asked, "Why do  _you_  care?"

"What did they do to you?"

"One of them attacked me and I fought back. Is there something wrong with that?"

Touka blinked at that, momentarily looking surprised. "Just one of them? Then why are there so many bodies?"

"They pissed me off."

She stared at him for a moment, not flinching under Rin's cold gaze. "I can't just let you do what you want."

Rin watched as her gaze darkened, the red in her eyes slowly growing before it totally glowed under the darkness of the alley.

"So would you kindly leave?" she hissed, glaring hard at Rin who simply stared down at the girl, trying not to make it look like his wound still hasn't healed. It was pinching under his skin now, making Rin think that there was a crab under his shirt.

Nonchalantly, Rin sighed, fully turning to the girl who was most probably about to lash her kagune out at him.

"I can't." Rin said, "I have business with Rize Kamishiro. I'll be staying here for a long time."   
Rin carefully leaned down towards Touka who simply froze under the red eyed glare he blessed her with.

"So buzz off."

Touka stared at him for a moment, not even bothering to hide the undignified shock on her face.

Feeling satisfied, Rin gave the girl one last glare, turning his back to her and moving out to walk back home but the moment he took a step, a red hot pain shot up his back, the stabbing sensation starting from his lower back and trailing up to his left shoulder like a centipede.

Rin gasped, staggering as his eyes widened. Shaky and slightly shocked, Rin took a glance back towards the girl.

Her eyes had darkened as she glared hard at the boy, her kagune gleaming and pulsing like the feathery wing of a butterfly on her back.

"Sorry," she said, her voice low and dominating with power, "but I won't let you do whatever you want anymore."

Like a bottle of soda shaken too much, Rin's anger boiled hot against his skin.

' _Don't do it._ '

He twitched at the voice in his head but he couldn't stop himself.

Grinding his teeth hard as he carefully turned back to the girl, feeling his eyes heating up and reveling at the way he could suddenly see so clearly in the darkness. The girl stood before Rin, fearless and not even flinching at the boy's swiftly rising anger.

"You fuck." He hissed.

His own kagune burst from his back, bolting through the air and heading straight for the girl's head.

Touka gasped, shocked at the boy's speed and tried to dodge his kagune. The red tendril sped through the air like a lightning bolt. With just a hair's length, the girl managed to tilt her head to the side, narrowly avoiding Rin's rinkaku.

Jumping back, she narrowed her eyes at the ghoul before her, his tendrils swaying around behind him like seaweed.

A warmth trickled just under her left eye. Touka growled. "Tsk." 

Despite the lack of fear she was displaying, Rin couldn't stop the sudden spike of adrenaline in his veins. Like a car in the race track, his blood sped under his skin. She was fast. Maybe even faster than him.

A gruesome grin spread on Rin's face. "But your eyes are mine." He growled and set his rinkaku on the move once again.

Another shock of pain rippled through his right shoulder this time.

Rin gasped, growling like a feral lion with his hand flying towards the knife of a kagune seeping further into his skin, slicing through bone and tickling muscle.

Rin gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes at the girl and instantly keeping his kagune close. Clearly she was different from the ghouls he's fought before. She actually knows how to fight. Just a few millimeters more and she could've hit an artery and given the boy a run for his own blood.

Standing atop one of the trash cans, Touka hissed, "Do you want to die here, bastard?"

Rin's eyes darkened, hating the girl's haughtiness. Why'd he have to go through such a situation? He was just having a night time walk a few minutes ago. Rin kept quiet.

' _There's no word horrible enough to spit at you_.' except,

"Fuck you." Rin growled, ripping Touka's knife-like kagune out of his shoulder and urging his body to quickly heal. Though he was fast, the boy bruised like a peach and it wouldn't be too good to let this battle go further even when his healing abilities weren't the usual for a ghoul.

The wound on his stomach started twisting up, Rin felt the muscle surrounding it twitch in pain.

Finally, Rin was able to think through the haze of anger. Wallowing through it, Rin carefully straightened himself, keeping a hand on the oozing wound on his shoulder.

"Why do you even care?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the ghoul, "Are they your friends? Is that it?"

The girl narrowed her eyes at Rin in return. It didn't seem like the case.

Judging by the girl's pushy attacks and bold attitude, if they were her friends, the girl would've been going on a rampage trying to kill him by now. But Rin kept pushing her and smirked, the trail of his own blood trickling down Rin's cheek and seeping into his lips.

"I should probably hunt your friends down to shut you up." Rin chuckled, showing off a lop-sided grin. "It won't be hard. I'm very persistent and know how to hide very well."

It obviously hit the girl hard and rin basked in the way she flinched at his words. A moment later, her glare darkened as the red in her eyes pulsed wildly just like the kagune on her back.

" _You fucking piece of shit_." She hissed, clenching her fists. "I was going to let you live but now, I'm gonna rip that disgusting grin off your fucking face."

The smirk grew on Rin's face, a giggle snaking out of his lips as the red in his own eyes pulsed with a delicious burn.

"Let's see you try."

 


	6. Restart

The two ghouls stood before each other, both of them panting hard. There was blood everywhere and the rustic smell was strong in the air, swirling like a cold broth over their heads. The walls of the alley were already a museum of their kagune's abilities. Scarred, deep claw-like marks and tiny, deep craters dug into the cement along with residue from their kagune.

Like their surroundings, the two ghouls had been wrecked horribly by each other after ten full minutes of fighting.

Rin grunted, trying not to stagger back as his chest heaved, blood running down his neck in rivulets. The boy took careful and shallow breaths, straining to see through the haziness forming like fog in his vision.

Touka was exhausted too but unlike her opponent, she still had a tad more energy to spare. She kept a tight grip on the open wound on her stomach, trying not to panic at the feel of her own blood running down the back of her hand like a stream of water. Rin had aimed for the center a while ago, wanting to end everything with a single blow but he never expected Touka to be so experienced in battle and failed to kill her by a millimeter.

Both were drenched in blood and sheeted with sweat but with Rin's shoulders sagging and his breaths coming out in deep gasps, it was clear who was about to win. The girl opposite of her didn't even seem close to fainting yet.

Now, for the very first time, the boy was on the verge of losing.

To think that he was about to lose to someone who served humans with a smile on her face, not even looking the least bit repelled by the idea of bringing them coffee.

Rin wanted to laugh at himself and tried not to growl at Touka, to hide that he was indeed at the end of his rope and was simply hanging unto his consciousness with sheer, stubborn will-power. If only he wasn't stabbed right in the stomach before encountering her, this battle would've been solidified with him coming out on top.

' _Make her kneel_.' his head hissed, ' _How the hell do I make this shit kneel_?' 

Make his kagune wider? He could cage her in and like a wet towel, just swirl around her and just squeeze. It was a dirty way of killing his victims but he was running out of time and energy.

Rin felt the way his eyelids had started to fall lower, tempting him to just sit and let the girl do whatever she wants with him.

Rin ground his teeth down, stubbornly pushing away the exhaustion leaning heavily down his back and carefully pulled back his kagune. Her speed was just as dangerous as his own and they had been involved in a flurry of quick stepped dances for the last few minutes.

Seeing the paralyzed state he was in, Touka scoffed, a haughty smirk on her bruised and bloodied face.

"Did you like the way I tried?" she asked. Rin simply shot her a dark glare and tried to think of a way to end the fight and finally kill her but nothing came. There was one idea clinking in his brain, however.

' _Why don't you just run?_ '

The thought was annoying enough to make the boy actually grimace. With this kind of opponent, he'd only remember the shame of scurrying away with his kagune tucked between his legs. He waved off the idea and held his ground. He couldn't wait any longer but instead of rushing out like a thoughtless boar, he asked,

"Why do you even care what I do here?" he spat, suddenly feeling a hatred squirming deep in his chest. "If you think I might end up killing your friends then tell me who they are. I'll happily stick to only half-killing them."

Touka's glare darkened, the kagune on her back shimmering in the color of dark red rubies as her anger started to bubble again. She straightened herself, pulling her chin up and desperately trying not to lash out because for some reason, she started to think that the guy could still be reasoned with. 

Right when she was thinking that, her entire self stiffened as something heavy and invisible crashed over her mind. Touka wobbled, feeling her head tumbling in her skull. She had lost too much blood but she had to make the guy understand.

' _Would he even listen?_ ' she asked herself, fighting the haze threatening to make her topple to the ground and looked up at Rin, seeing the deep gaze he held to her. She didn't know that he was watching her though, waiting for the chance for him to whip out his kagune and behead her once she starts staggering from the loss of blood.

Right when Rin was readying his kagune and feeling it whip around his lower back, a prickling feeling started on the back of his neck.

The air had changed, tense and supremely heavy as if Rin was waiting for the aftershock of an earthquake.

Someone was behind him.

Eyes widening, Rin lashed out every single one of his six tendrils. Like a cocoon, he wrapped them around his entire self, letting the sudden warmth wrap around the air close to his skin.

From the minute slit he left open, dim light streamed into his eyes and he saw the silhouette of a tall man wearing a dark trench coat standing right over him and looming like a tree. The minute Rin caught his silver gaze, the boy knew he had to bow down.

Though the boy was incredibly stubborn and tried to punch anyone he could, he knew power when he felt it and whoever this man was had lots of it.

"Yomo!" the girl behind him exclaimed. Rin stared up at the man, breathing carefully and listening to his own heartbeat as the man boldly stepped closer to his make shift cocoon.

He said nothing. Simply stared and let Rin take in his features. The lazy floppiness of his slightly long silver hair parted at the middle and framing his oval shaped face, the almost bored but slightly brooding eyes and the air like that of an older brother-someone who practically screamed that he's seen so much in the world and lived through the worst.

"What are you doing here?" Touka asked. The man didn't take his gaze away from Rin.

"Yoshimura asked me to come by the store."

The man moved closer to Rin, leaning down. Rin flinched back almost hitting his kagune with his back.

"Be careful!" Touka shouted before Rin heard her grunt.

"Shit." Rin hissed under his breath.

In just the span of a second, he had tripped into a very unexpectedly unfavorable situation. He must've had the worst luck tonight to come upon three ghouls all at once and with each of them heaving different levels of strength that simply grew and grew.

He had to get away somehow.

"This kagune." the man suddenly spoke. Rin froze, not realizing that Yomo was talking to him.

"Cheetah."

The name rung through the boy's ears, drowning out the wild thumping of his heart. There was silence all around them and Rin contemplated between simply sitting there and waiting for what this ghoul would do to him or flat out stab the guy and make a run for it. He had met tons of ghouls, most of them wanting to kill or torture him for the trouble and grief he had caused most of them so whoever this man was, all Rin could think that he was in deep trouble.

"Cheetah?" the girl asked this time, her voice filled with shock and disbelief. She was about to say something else but the man cut her off.

"Stop fighting and try to understand." He said. Rin could not understand.

He knit his brows together, keeping his kagune sealed all around and ignoring the way the red pulsed wildly around him like night lights, mirroring what he was currently feeling.

"yYou've been causing too much trouble here." Yomo said, his deep voice echoing in Rin's cocoon, "But unlike the other wards, we won't tolerate you running wild and doing whatever you want."

Rin felt his gaze fall lower in a returning annoyance. Without thinking, it just came out.

"Fuck you."

Before anyone could react, his kagune had swirled away and Rin broke away from the cocoon, his tendrils looming over his head, sharp and ready to pierce. Baring his teeth, Rin growled, rallying his strength and whirled, aiming for both Touka and Yomo's heads with both his kagune and his arms.

"YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!"

A flash of red and black swiped past Rin's vision followed by the feeling of someone catching his arm. He was pulled hard and like he weighed as much as a feather, the boy was flung to the wall, his head banging against the cement wall and rattling his vision.

It wasn't enough. Rin was still moving but he didn't see Yomo's fist. It came in a flash, smashing hard into the boy's skin and through the layer of muscle hardened to defend.

Rin gasped at the numb, tingling feeling bursting through his solar plexus before he finally felt his gaze drop along with his head, letting the darkness consume him.

Steady breaths, Rin slowly felt himself waking. Taking in a deep breath, his lungs instantly let the scent of warm coffee melt into his system. Lazily pulling his eyelids open, Rin took in his surroundings. He wasn't at home.

At the moment, he was lying in an extremely comfortable couch with a thin but very warm blanket. It wasn't long enough to cover his feet though. The room was very nice too. Near his head was a small TV standing atop a long cream and brown cabinet. Right above the TV, a small shelf of books stuck to the wall.

Apart from the other chairs and the small coffee table, there wasn't much to look at anymore. Except for the old man standing right at the door.

He was tall and wore a familiar uniform of black pants and a white dress shirt paired with the snug-fitting brown vest. His square shaped face, wrinkled into a kind expression with his eyes seemingly shut closed stared at Rin who almost jumped at the sight of him.

Well, it wasn't every day he had an old man watch him sleep.

"Feeling well now?" he asked, his voice deep and kind. Rin had to let himself relax at the sound of his voice. Watching the old man move towards him, he only realized now that the man had a small tray of steaming coffee in his hands.

"Here," he said, carefully placing the cup on the table. "Have a drink, Erin."

The boy blinked and gave a strange look to the old man. A moment later, he realized that was his name. From now on he had to answer to Erin not Rin. Not wasting any time, Rin started with his questions. Starting from,

"Who are you?"

The old man straightened himself, tucking the tray to his side. "My name is Yoshimura, I'm the manager of Anteiku." He said then gracefully placed a hand on his chest, giving the boy a light nod. "It's nice to meet you, Erin Murakami."

Rin stared at the man and instinctively gave a minute bow in return but didn't say anything. Though the man seemed harmless, something in the boy said that he couldn't just let his guard down.

The old man chuckled-a kind and quiet sound. "I never would have thought that Cheetah would be so tense around an old man."

"You don't seem like a normal old man." Rin replied, warily keeping an eye on him and ignoring the fact that the old man knew who he was as a ghoul. A moment later, Yoshimura smiled at the boy. "There's no need to feel worried. I only want to talk with you."

The boy simply stared at the old man, waiting since he really didn't seem threatening in any way.

"To start off," Yoshimura said, "I apologize for Touka's behavior last night. She's not very good at talking."   
Rin wanted to retort with a scoff but kept quiet instead.

"Secondly, as a fellow ghoul, I came here to ask something of you."   
Rin tilted his head, raising a lazy brow as he waited.

"The 20th ward is known to be the most peaceful of all the wards and Anteiku is one of the reasons for that peace. We seek to keep this place safe for the ghouls who cannot fight on their own and we wish to keep it that way."

Rin knit his brows at the old man, wanting to feel annoyed but for some reason he just can't. It was like being in a fight. Something was holding him back from bursting out and getting himself injured again.

"And why are you telling  _me_  this?" Rin asked. The old man stayed quiet for a moment, tilting his head with a quizzical look on his face.

"You seem like a young man I once knew." He said, "The boy was very understanding and wanted to help out Anteiku. You have the same air as he did." A chuckle escaped his lips. "Though you are a little more rowdy."

Rin perked a brow at this, looking bored and slightly annoyed.

"I'm hoping that you understand me when I ask this of you." Yoshimura started. For some reason, Rin was starting to get nervous.

"Would you mind working at Anteiku?"

Rin was already moving out of the couch, ignoring the pinching and tight pulling in his muscles and pulling the blanket away as a bored look spread across his face.

"I already have a job." Rin simply replied as he stood and suddenly realized that his shirt was gone. Now he was just zipped up in his jacket.

"Part-time isn't so bad." the old man muttered and Rin had to make a puzzled face at his words. Was the old man seriously trying to make him work as an employee in the coffee shop?

Though Yoshimura hasn't said much, Rin could feel the air stale with promises while the old man tried to keep him here with just the minute changes in his body movements.

Rin narrowed his eyes at the old man. "First that girl then that grey haired guy, now you?" he asked flatly, "Why are you all so keen on keeping me around?"

For a moment, silence rung between the two as they stared at each other. Yoshimura took a breath, looking as if he was about to reveal some huge secret.

"I'd like to help you." he simply said.

The air was silent and all Rin could hear was the steady beating of his heart. The edge of his mouth twitched, slight annoyance threatening to bubble in his head.

"Help me?" he asked, holding down a scoff. "Why would I need  _your_  help?"

"Aren't you looking for someone?" the old man asked, minutely opening his almond shaped eyes and pulling his gaze down to Rin's jacket pockets. Rin blinked and instinctively let his hand move towards his brother's picture.

' _How'd you know that?_ ' Rin thought as he knit his brows together. As if hearing his unsaid question, Yoshimura said,

"I apologize but your and Rize's conversation wasn't exactly secretive. Though I'm sure not many understood the real meaning behind your conversation, Touka has told me that you must be looking for the person in that photograph."

"And what's it to you?" Rin asked, his voice dangerously low now as he gingerly touched the smooth paper beneath his finger.

The old man took a step towards the door now, turning his back to Rin. "Other than it is our policy to help ghouls in need," he then turned his head to Rin, a slight look of nostalgia on his face, "I've met that boy before."

Other than the thought of the old man taking a peek at both his I.D. and his brother's picture, Rin stood frozen.

"You knew my brother?"

He couldn't stop himself from asking it. He thought that the old man couldn't possibly care about his family, yet, he knew Jin. Someone else had known Rin's brother.

Yoshimura had a thoughtful look on his face now as he hummed. "I didn't talk to him much but he was a pleasant young man and helped a lot of people. But then he disappeared and no one knew where he had gone to."

"He was killed." Rin mindlessly spat through gritted teeth, clenching his fist. "I don't know how but he was killed."

The old man said nothing for a while and let the boy bask in silence, watching as Rin hung his head low, his long fringe hiding the sudden anger bubbling in him.

"Anteiku is known to be the place to exchange information." He finally said, "You can talk to many people here. Even our other employees can help you if you need it. We will leave you with what you need to find out."

Rin glanced up at the old man and instantly froze. The air was suddenly tight and heavy. So heavy that Rin couldn't even flinch. He didn't want to move a muscle for there was a fear that if he did, he might get cut down.

Staring at the old man with slightly wide eyes, he caught sight of the redness glowing dimly under his pale lashes.

"But I do need you to keep your activities to a minimum." The old man said, his voice low and buzzing with a power that Rin just couldn't place.

"If the doves come here, we will all be in terrible danger. So I hope you would change your ways and help us out."

So far, the strongest ghoul he had ever met was Rize but staring at the stranger before him now, he recalled the man in the trench coat.

' _That guy doesn't even compare to you_.'

Rin swallowed and gritted his teeth, attempting to glare at the old man as he clenched his fists, placing the old man's power and tried not to grin at the excitement tingling at his chest.

' _Who knew that this place had so many strong people?_ '

The smirk spread on Rin's face, the depression on his right cheek instantly appearing.

"You think you people will be able to change my ways?" Rin asked, taking steps towards the old man and raising an amused brow at him. Yoshimura simply watched as the young man approached, his brown eyes dark with devilish amusement as a smirk rose on his face.

"I've been this way for five years and I haven't changed. Not even when my brother died." Rin said, "His death didn't change me. What makes you think  _you_  can do such a thing?"

Rin knew what he was. What he did to humans and ghouls, but he accepted himself and didn't want to let anyone change him in any way. It wasn't like it was possible for him to change so easily anyway. He's met a lot of people who wanted him to change and all that happened was those people get hurt either by something that had something to do with Rin or Rin himself.

Yoshimura simply smiled at the young boy and said, "There's a first time for everything."

Rin gave him a bored, half-lidded stare. ' _Sarcasm and selfish disdain doesn't work, huh?_ '

With a sigh, Rin simply crossed his arms and chuckled to himself, wondering what on earth he was going to go through with this little adventure of his.

Fully clothed, Rin followed the manager downstairs as he ruffled his bangs, trying to fix his bed head.

"So, what do I do here?" he asked, glancing around the empty hallways and looking for the main source of the coffee smell lingering in the air.

"What the others do to earn money," Yoshimura replied, "I'll teach you how to make the excellent coffee." The old man turned to Rin now, "you have served people before, haven't you?"

Rin wanted to grimace at first but simply gave a single nod in reply, urging himself to forget about the jobs he'd had as a waiter.

"It wasn't easy." Rin said, recalling the time when the customers were more interested in him than the menu. The boy made a sour face. "People are difficult."

Yoshimura chuckled as they turned a corner and walking into a closet full of clothes for the employees. "I assume you don't socialize well with them too much, then."

Rin hummed behind the old man. "They're a little annoying so I'd rather not talk to them." he said, "And I can't just be with humans. I don't know how to act like one."

The boy knit his brows for a moment as he watched the old man skim through the clothes. ' _Why the hell am I telling him all this?_ '

Oblivious of the boy's thoughts, Yoshimura thoughtlessly hummed and pulled out a pair of long black pants. After examining them for a short moment, glancing between Rin and the clothes, he leaned back down the cabinet and this time took a vest and shirt then held it up to Rin.

"Well, we can help you with that too." Yoshimura smiled, "no need to worry."

Rin nodded at the man, carefully taking the clothes from his hands and neatly folding them over an arm.

"I'll let you settle down for now and let yourself heal." Yoshimura said as he moved out of the room, "You'll start work tomorrow. If you need anything, just come to me or Touka."

Rin raised a high brow at that, wanting to laugh at the name he just mentioned. Getting help from the girl was easier said than done. He wanted to say that but the manager was already out of the room, leaving Rin with his own thoughts.

Sighing, Rin took a look at his new clothes, gingerly pulling up the pants and inspecting them. A second later, he scoffed at himself, shaking his head in disbelief. Agreeing to work at the very place he looked down on, the irony was just amazing. Right as he pulled his head back up, he lost his smirk, the expression replaced with instant annoyance.

Touka Kirishima stood at the doorway, leaning a shoulder on it. She was wearing the uniform now but her face was practically masked with healing patches and band aids. There was a grimace on her face-a look that mirrored Rin's.

"So you work here now?" she asked, practically hissing at the boy. Seeing how annoyed she was at the thought, a completely immature idea popped in Rin's head.

The boy smirked at Touka, folding the clothes and moving towards the door. "Yeah," he hummed with a cocky smile and simply walked past the girl, not even slightly intimidated by the glare she gave him. "Sounds like fun, eh?"

"I'm warning you." she growled, "Get too crazy again and I will fuckin' rip your head off."

Rin whipped his head towards her, his eyes dark and wide with gruesome amusement.

"You're warning me?" he asked with a low voice coated with haughtiness.

"I only agreed to stop playing around so much but I hold no promises. So, I'll be the one warning you. I don't do well with people who threaten me."

Touka stared at the boy, glaring hard at him as she gritted her teeth. The boy blinked his eyes, instantly losing grip of the violent side of himself and feeling the light amusement sizzling in him like sparklers.

"C'mon. Let's play nice, eh?" Rin cooed, smirking again. "I'll do my thing, and you do yours." Touka grimaced at this, curling her lips a bit and glaring at the boy.

"The manager told me that if I had any questions, I can come to him or you."

Touka let her jaw fall, her eyes going impossibly wide. She was about to say something but Rin cut her off.

"You saw the girl I was with the other day, right?" he asked, "Rize Kamishiro. Do you know where she is?"

At first, there was a flurry of emotion on the girl's face. First, there was slight shock followed by what seemed to be annoyance at a memory then annoyance at Rin. Touka seemed as though she wouldn't say a word to him but after giving a sigh of exasperation and pulling her head to one side to spit a curse word, she turned back to the boy, her eyes slightly puzzled.

"Rize's dead."

 


	7. A State of Insanity

Rin could only stare at the girl, shocked.

It took a while to gasp the single word under his breath, "What?"

Touka stared up at him, silent for a moment before her brows slightly knit up. For once, Touka was looking slightly apologetic to the young boy before her as she watched his face slowly turning pale with each second.

Rin felt his head slowly pull up, his mouth parted slightly as he let himself lean on the doorway and tried to breathe through the heaviness in his chest.

It was true that he and Rize had some bumps in their relationship and that recently he's considered actually killing her because of how annoying she was starting to become, but nevertheless. She was...his friend. The one person whom he trusted so much that he actually talked to her about his brother.

There wasn't much to talk about but still, Rin never dared to mutter even Jin's name to anyone except Rize who had a charm that simply cracked open the boy's outer shell like a hammer.

But now, Rize? Gone?

' _No way._ '

It seemed impossible to Rin. For Rize Kamishiro to be dead? What or who on earth would be so strong to be able to get her to kiss the dirt like that?

For a second, he felt the small thing in his chest twitch.

He swallowed, slightly uncomfortable with the sudden pain. Only then did he realize that Touka was actually calling him.

"Oi." Her face was close to his now, her brows knit together in slight worry as she crossed her arms. "Don't faint here. It's gonna be troublesome."

Rin blinked, snapping himself out of the shock and stared down at Touka. The slight glare worked its way to his face again after a moment.

"Faint?" Rin scoffed and moved away, carefully slipping past the female ghoul with a haughty smirk on his face. "As if."

Keeping his clothes neatly folded in his arms, the boy walked out of the café, ignoring the looks customers gave him as he strode out of the building, keeping his eyes straight ahead. Thoughts started churning in his brain, a tingling in the back of his neck making its way down his spine.

' _How'd she die?_ ' Rin thought, keeping his head held up high. Though he saw that he was getting close to his apartment, he really wasn't paying much attention since now, he was trying to piece together what was happening to the people in his life. First-his brother was killed and now Rize.

The facts that ached Rin's head surprised him. Both individuals were a part of the tier of stronger ghouls. Rin knew that he was a member of that tier but still. Back when Jin was still alive, Rin watched him decapitate a stronger ghoul with a simply flick of his hand. And Rize.

He's only seen her hunt once, but that one experience was more than enough to both alarm Rin and gain an attraction towards the cruel and gruesome Rize Kamishiro.

So when either of them were challenged to a fight, Rin would practically sprint away like a jack rabbit.

Should he look for the one who killed Rize? Now that he thought about it, he wasn't even able to ask Touka the full story.

The wind suddenly blew hard over Rin's face, a stray leaf caressing his lightly bruised cheek.

' _But do you really have to?_ ' a voice muttered in his head, ' _Why would you care?_ ' she was only a fling.

Rin blinked and his gaze grew slightly darker, a bored look in his eyes. He considered it true for a moment. He was never the type to take someone's death too hard. A dark brow perked up on his face as he loosened a breath though his nose, looking up at his apartment complex now and watching the dark grey clouds smoothing over the roof of his home.

He huffed, plopping his pants and shirt over his shoulder. "Whatever."

The crickets were chirping outside and the night was somehow colder. Standing out in the complex's hallway with his arms propped on the thin steel railing, Rin stared up at the sky, trying to see past the much too bright streetlight. He sighed. Where were the stars when he needed to see them?

Rize's face flashed in his mind, a mischievous cat-like smile under her twinkling eyes as she peeked from under his blankets with shoulders bare with a smooth flawlessness.

Rin lazily leaned forward, placing his chin on the railing and letting his arms dangle in mid-air, the cool breeze wrapping around his bare hands. He was suddenly feeling bored, a strange dullness under his skin that simply made him stare blankly into the air.

' _You miss her._ '

Rin made a face at his own thoughts, trying not to scoff.

' _I don't miss people_.' he rebuffed himself. It was the truth anyway. For his entire life, he was a nomad, moving from one place to another and never staying for more than a month. The acquaintances he would make weren't really important to him so Rin never knew the feeling of missing friends.

' _And what about Jin, dumbass?'_

Rin blinked at that and ground his teeth a bit. ' _Never missed anyone? Bullshit. If you don't miss people then why are you looking for answers to Jin's_ -"

Rin huffed loudly at himself, stopping his thoughts and focusing on the mist rolling out from his nostrils.

After a seemingly long minute of staring at an empty road, the boy finally whipped away from the railings, annoyed. Growling, the boy finally made a decision.

Standing around with nothing to do was actually quite bad for him. With all the mysteries plowing through his head and his own voice rebuffing his own snarky comments, Rin figured he just might go mad. Either that or someone might see him hissing at the air and think him insane.

Clicking his tongue, he turned on his heel, pulling open the door and walking into his house before snatching his wallet and keys from the table. Turning all the lights and appliances off, Rin locked the house and strode towards the stairs, thinking of a wine glass halfway filled with a deep red liquid thicker than wine.

After a short taxi ride and a few more minutes of walking, Rin had finally gotten to his destination. The boy stood before the door, staring...well, more of glaring at it. Beside the portal, a single sign hung with a slightly bright yellow light, highlighting the black words:

"BAR  
Helter Skelter"

A minute had already passed and Rin was still staring at the door, contemplating. A moment later, he sighed, letting his head hang down as he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration.

"I need some friends." He muttered darkly to himself.

Rin wasn't the type to drink and now and then, he would hang around some bars that only ghouls tended to visit. Once, he had heard them talking of something called Blood Wine. As its name says, it's made from the blood of humans and left to rot and ferment. Basically, after a long while of being left alone, it would finally have the same effect of the liquor that humans drink.

He only visited the place once and took a look around. Until now, he could still remember the thick perfume of blood in the air, smooth and delicious. But even so, for some reason, Rin never once thought of drinking it even just for kicks. Since he didn't have anyone to watch over him, (nor did he ever let himself think of calling his brother to take care of him if he ever got drunk) the boy preferred erring on safety and kept thoughts of getting drunk buried deeply in his mind.

But now, he was deathly bored and curiosity had gotten the best of him.

Just as he was about to turn the knob, the door pulled open and Rin was met face to face with a red haired woman wearing a tight black dress that stopped at her pale thighs

Slightly shocked, Rin kept his hand in mid-air, staring up at the girl. He only saw her once when he first visited the bar but he wouldn't forget the face or her hair. Like fire, her long and thick hair framed her heart shaped face and seemed to highlight the obvious mischievousness tattooed in her personality.

The girl was just as shocked as he was and blinked, her lashes fluttering over her caramel eyes.

"OH!" she exclaimed with such loudness, Rin jumped in place.

"Do you wanna come in?" she asked, her slightly high but honeyed voice ringing in Rin's ears as he watched a wide grin spread on her face. Rin was about to retreat, thinking that staying at home was definitely the best choice but before he could even pull his hand down, the girl had taken him by the wrist and pulled him into the bar, ignoring Rin's cries of slight annoyance.

Despite the shock and annoyance brewing in the boy's chest, he was once again taken in by the scent of blood thick in the air. He didn't realize it at first but saliva was pooling in his mouth at just the mere smell.

Looking around, Rin saw that there weren't much people around. Maybe half of the place was occupied. He then took note of the red bricked wall at one side and a long and wide shelf full of bottle of liquor on the opposite wall. Rin knit his brows for a bit.

' _Ghouls can't drink alcohol_.'

The girl stopped pulling at Rin and practically threw him unto the stool set before the long bar counter. Rin narrowed his eyes at her.

She giggled at the slight sourness on his face. "I've been feeling that someone was outside. So it was you, huh?" once she had taken a seat next to him, she leaned closer.

Despite the haughtiness swirling in her eyes, there was caution that slightly puzzled Rin. He knew he smelled liked a ghoul so why was she so guarded? Other than that, how can she be so buddy-buddy with a stranger? It was slightly unsettling for Rin.

"You do know what this place is, right?"

Rin nodded and subtly sniffed the air. Not smelling any human around, he said, "You have blood wine here, right?"

The girl looked pleased and nodded once, placing an elbow on the countertop. For now, her caution had dispersed. "Yeah, though you should know already. I've seen you here before."

Rin froze up entirely. Under the woman's gaze, he felt as if he was crumbling like a stale rock and tried not to gasp or simply burst out of his seat and kill the woman.

Blinking, he fully turned to her, trying not to show how shocked he was. Ever since he had arrived in the 20th ward and changed his look, no one had ever solved the puzzle of his real identity and was able to live to tell anyone about it.

Since he was serious on wanting to live a life free of Doves snapping after his heels, Rin made sure that no one knew who he was before coming into the 20th ward.

Hearing that this stranger immediately remembered his face before the black hair, Rin tried not to worry about the fact that he's only been to the Helter Skelter once and he never even talked to anyone.

Immediately, Rin played dumb and ignored the light drumming in his chest. A lop sided smile spread on his face as he raised a skeptic brow.

"Me?" he asked, trying to sound skeptic, "I've never been here before."

"Ahh, quite lyin' to me kid!" the girl laughed as she playfully and heavily slapped his arm. "I know my customers very well and you aren't exactly the low profile type. What happened to the blonde hair? I liked it. It made you look dangerous."

Rin shut his eyes and shook his head, still trying to rebuff her. ' _No freaking way_.'

"I have no idea-"

"I told you, it's okay!" she said with a slight look of annoyance on her face now. She then got off her seat and moved to the back of the counter, taking a wine glass from the shelf and a dark green bottle.

"This place is safe for ghouls. And not everyone would want to cross kagune with you, Cheetah."

"Will you be quiet!" Rin hissed through gritted teeth as frantic eyes scanned the place. No one was looking at him though and it surprised him for a moment.

Were they pretending not to hear?...or was he simply paranoid? The girl didn't really shout anyway.

"So it was true that you really were still alive." she thoughtfully said. "Figures, it's not like it'd be easy to kill you."

For some reason, Rin felt like he was being teased. He narrowed his eyes at the girl again, already sensing that the girl was trouble.

' _Why did I even come here?_ '

She giggled at Rin and placed the glass before him. Rin stared at it, entranced by the thickness swirling in it like a potion.

"Don't worry." she said, crossing her arms and placing her elbows on the countertop.

"As I said, a lot of ghouls are afraid of you. If you wanna keep low, I don't think anyone's gonna rat you out. But I'm curious."

Rin looked up at her, waiting.

"What are you doing here?"

Rin was quiet for a moment then glanced back at the drink, carefully taking the glass by the stem and bringing it to his lips. Carefully, he sniffed, deeply inhaling the scent as a human would do when sampling actual wine.

"I'm bored." Rin simply answered.

The girl seemed unsatisfied and made a face. "That's not really an answer."

"Yes, it is."

She sighed at him, suddenly looking exhausted. "Waaah, I never knew that the great Cheetah was such a talker."

Rin raised a brow at her sarcasm.

' _Kill her?_ '

Rin sighed into the cup, feeling tired all of a sudden. ' _Don't. The wine smells really good_.'

"Leave me alone, would you?" Rin blurted, "Who are you to even ask such questions?"

He's never met a person like her before and it was slightly charming how so easy it was for her to get close to a stranger but still, anyone who knew that he was Cheetah never dared to ask him such questions and be so sarcastic...well, no one except for Rize talked to him, actually. He scared them too much.

The girl pouted then, puffing her cheeks up before instantly regaining her bubbly self. "The name's Itori." She said then held a hand up towards Rin's face in a gesture of greeting.

For a moment Rin contemplated on whether or not he should shake her hand. A second later he simply gave a singular nod.

"Nice to meet you." he said then nonchalantly took a sip of the wine. He let it blanket his tongue before his senses tingled, his throat threatening to release a guttural moan filled with pleasure of the sweetness wrapping around his tongue.

Itori stared at him, oblivious of how much Rin was beginning to love the wine within each sip. The edge of her smile twitched in annoyance. "Oi, in this place there's such a thing called exchange. I told you my name, now tell me yours."

"You said I'm Cheetah, didn't you?"

"Your real name."

He thought about it for a moment. Which name should he choose to say? The safest bet would probably be Ishikawa Rin so if anyone ever threatened to expose his true identity they'd be momentarily confused- Rin shut his eyes, inwardly shaking his head at his thoughts.

Whichever name he chose, it would be no use to lie now. She knew who he was. Even if he said his name was Erin Murakami, he was still Cheetah and he couldn't lie to the girl about it. Rin took a long gulp of the wine and carefully placed it on the table top, staring at it.

' _Should I run?_ ' he thought, absentmindedly tapping the glass with the tip of his finger. Since she was literally someone Rin met just a few minutes ago, he was cautious. What did she want with his name?

Her sigh shook him from his thoughts. "I just want to know 'cause it's good information, you know?"

That simply made him close up even more. his gaze darkened and immediately, Itori blinked and waved her hands in the air as if trying to clear up the invisible blackness Rin had summoned with his glare.

"Hey, hey, relax!" she exclaimed, "It's not like you'd lose anything from it, right?" then, Itori held a finger up, as if she was going to prove a point. "Like I said, exchange!"

Rin was silent for a moment and kept a steady gaze on the woman. After a moment, he said, "How do I know you won't tell anyone else? I don't want people knowing 'cause it's annoying."

Thinking now, Rin wondered how on earth he was able to become friends with Rize.

Since he was so cautious of people knowing his identity, it was a miracle that Rize was able to call him Rin and know so much about him. Was she  _that_  charming?

' _Or am I just weak against female charms?_ '

Itori chuckled at Rin's question, tilting her head to one side as she turned, taking a glass and pouring a drink for herself. She glanced back at him, a smirk on her face.

"I know a fair trade, Cheetah." She simply said.

Rin suddenly realized something.

Itori. No last name?

"So do I." he smirked and held up his glass, asking for more. Then flashing a tiny grin, he said, "Rin. My name is Rin."

"Your full name?" she suddenly asked while Rin was gulping down the wine, taking it all in one go before placing the empty glass back on the countertop.

"Not telling." He simply said as he took out his wallet and placed the bill on the counter.

"You didn't tell me your full name either and like you said, fair trade. Thank you for the drink."

Rin grinned at the woman who simply narrowed her eyes at him as she crossed her arms. He wasn't going to give up his name so easily.

The girl made a loud and high pitched groan before she sighed, practically slamming the bottle on the countertop in annoyance as she watched Rin get up from his seat.

"Fine, fine then!" she huffed, practically seething with annoyance now. "When you come back here, expect me to call you Rin! You can't change it anymore!"

The boy nodded at her, slightly grinning as he made his way out of the bar, his vision slightly brighter and his skin feeling a bit hot. Little did he know that water was the only drink he should be gulping down.

"So stupid." He groaned to himself, watching his surroundings stumble around just like his feet as he walked down the empty road, an empty water bottle in the grip of his palm and his cellphone in the other.

After a taxi ride, he was already back in the 20th ward and was on his way home but if he only knew that he was going to be so drunk after just two glasses, he should've told the driver to go straight to his house and save himself the ridicule and exhaustion of wobbling through the streets like a penguin.

Rin blinked, squinting as he lazily pushed his fists into his jacket pockets, trying to endure the cold prickling at his skin.

He suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, staring ahead and noting the streetlight propped up at the side, the vending machine on the opposite. Far ahead, he could smell something horrible-something like boiling, hot urine.

Rin curled his upper lip, his tongue stuck out between his teeth. "Yuck."

After that, he continued on his way, carefully walking down the road and trying to keep himself upright. Once he passed the vending machine, he muttered,

"Where the fuck am I?"

As he was busy trying to think of what to do and for some reason, trying to remember where his cellphone was, (it was still in his hand) he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Erin!"

Rin blinked, knitting his brows together and whipping his head all over the place, struggling to find out where the voice was coming from and feeling annoyed when the voice got louder.

Finally, he groaned. ' _I give up_.'

Then he moaned, "Whaaat?"

Someone was suddenly standing right before him. Rin blinked, squinting at the young man and blinking once again at the sight of his dark yellow head of undercut hair wildly sticking up all over the air as if he had just woken up and didn't even bother to brush through and tame the stray locks of gold hanging over his forehead.

Under thick brows, his light brown eyes were wide with slight shock masked under the amusement evident in his lop sided grin that exposed his strangely sharp canine teeth.

Rin raised a brow at the guy now and lazily pointed a finger at the guy's fitted, black tank top. "Aren't you cold?"

In reply, the guy chortled, whipping his head back as he laughed, wrapping long and slender arms around his stomach.

"Two days of not seeing you and it turns out you're just getting drunk?! I didn't think you were the type to get drunk, man!!" the boy laughed, his husky and boyish voice making Rin wince. It was too loud. After a moment, Rin suddenly remembered.

The wild, red hair, the rowdy personality like that of a five year old on crack. This was his band mate-Luka Kazawa. Otherwise known as Lu the lead singer of Raiden.

Rin suddenly blinked, two words blink in his head like a broken light bulb.

" _Two days?"_  he muttered, continuously blinking in utter confusion.

' _I was asleep for two days?!_ '

Luka raised a brow at his drunken band mate, not losing his grin. "Yeah, man!" he exclaimed, placing a bandaged hand on his hip, "the manager's in hysterics 'cause you missed both of our gigs. We called you so many times but you didn't answer so I thought you were sick." Luka then lost his grin and winced, suddenly looking apologetic.

"But, well, y'know how Manager Suma is."

Rin stared at Luka, waiting to know how Manager Suma was. When the taller boy said nothing, Rin finally asked, "What?"

The lead singer looked utterly in pain. "Ah, well..."

Rin suddenly chuckled, absentmindedly trying to stuff the empty water bottle into his much too small pocket. "What, did she kick me out?"

Luka said nothing and let his eyes shift around.

Rin stared, losing his smile but still struggling to shove the bottle into his clothes. He then tilted his head to the side, his hair shuffling along with the movement, his eyes wide with shock.

"Seriously?"

Luka approached a much too drunk Rin and somehow, was able to stuff the water bottle into Rin's pocket.

"Let's get you something to sober up."

Rin sat stiff on the red stool set inside the small and quaint little ramen shop, grinding his teeth as he stared at the much too large bowl sitting idly before him, the slightly golden broth steaming and warming Rin's face.

It was a pleasant feeling and it would've been more pleasurable if ramen didn't smell like piss to the young ghoul. Though he was still drunk, Rin was aware of his human band mate sitting right next to him, slurping up the noodles like there was no tomorrow and ignoring the looks of slight disgust and shock the black haired man sitting next to him was giving.

Rin had to resist the grimace threatening to curl his features. It was the shop he saw before the vending machine but he never thought he'd actually go inside and eat.

Everything in the shop smelled disgusting.

From the oil to the smell of uncooked noodles. How the heck was he going to eat through this and not puke?

Seeing that his youngest band member wasn't eating, Luka nodded towards Rin's bowl.

"Go on and eat! It's on me." he said. Rin hummed in reply, staring at the food with a half-lidded gaze. He was feeling the giddy lightness in him again. It happened a few minutes before Luka appeared and Rin could vaguely remember laughing at the air for no reason at all.

At the moment, Luka was talking but Rin's brain couldn't keep up and kept sputtering. But he did understand that Luka was saying something about girls and getting too drunk.

Was he lecturing Rin right now?

Rin couldn't figure it out but the thought of being lectured was annoying to him.

Rin simply stared at his older band mate, watching him eat like how a young child would watch a lion wolf down a carcass.

"Really, just talk to Suma." Luka said, finally finishing the noodles and now slurping down the soup. "I'm sure she'll take you back. I told her that there was no other better drummer than you and besides, we all need to loosen up sometimes. She was overreacting..."

Rin wasn't listening anymore.

Instead, he was letting himself be taken in by his surroundings. Slowly blinking, Rin found himself staring at the black haired man sitting next to Luka.

The boy studied the man, staring at his prominent and strong jaw line, the thick band of lean muscle that was his neck and his short but slightly messy dark hair. there was nothing much, but Rin realized, for a guy, the man had wonderfully fair skin and immaculately long lashes under weirdly shaped brows that started to ring a very dim bell in Rin's mind.

Now, there was an actual ringing echoing in Rin's ears.

The boy blinked, instantly looking away from the man and searching for the source of the noise. Pulling his gaze down, he saw Luka's phone moving and vibrating on the smooth, wooden countertop.

The owner grabbed the phone and took it to his ear. There was a brief conversation, Luka groaning and sighing before he hung up.

"I gotta run, kiddo." Luka said, already getting up from his seat as he handed bills to the shop owner. "Suma wants me to go with her to a recording studio to check the acoustics." The boy then placed two heavy hands on both Rin's shoulders as he stared him down.

"Can you get home on your own?" he asked.

Rin nodded.

"Really, Mr. drunkard?"

Rin nodded again then flashed a goofy grin. Luka's eyes twitched. As he was about to say something his phone started ringing again, this time sounding more like a hectic fire alarm.

Rin clicked his tongue, annoyed at the sound and waved Luka away. "Just go, it's noisy."

The other boy was hesitant at first but with Rin's continuous assurance that he would be fine, Luka finally left, leaving Rin sitting alone with the black haired man and two other human guys. Thankful that Luka was gone, Rin pushed the bowl of ramen far away from his face, successfully masking his disgust with nonchalance.

Sighing, Rin found himself staring at the black haired man once again, for some reason, feeling entranced.

' _I know you_.' Rin thought in a groan as he let his eyes study the man further. Judging by the black pants and the tucked in white shirt and tie, he must've gotten off work.

' _Who the hell are you?_ '

As if hearing his thoughts, the man turned his head to Rin who simply jerked and froze at the eye contact.

A long second of silence while the two other men accompanying the black haired man stared at Rin who struggled to keep his vision steady and the man's face from blurring.

"Yes?" the man asked, his voice deep and husky but very familiar. Rin blinked, struggling to piece together the puzzle of the man's identity.

' _The messy hair, the weird eyebrows,_ ' Rin's gaze went off his face and further down. ' _lots of muscles...._ '

Like a freight train, it hit him and he literally almost toppled off his seat because of how he flinched so hard.   
' _MUSCLES_! His head gasped as he struggled to keep his shock silent.

' _AMON KOUTAROU!_ '

Rin wanted to say it. To shout it, actually but he let his mouth open then nonchalantly shut it again, managing to control himself but not the blush of embarrassment plain on his face.

' _I'm not Ishikawa Rin. I'm not Ishikawa Rin_.' The boy thought in a chant as Amon continued to stare at the boy with puzzled eyes.

With humongous effort, Rin opened his mouth. But before he could say 'nothing', his vision blurred and his head juggled in his skull followed by an unpleasant swirl hurrying up his stomach and threatening to slither up his throat.

His hand flew to his mouth and Rin gritted his teeth, shutting his eyes and pushing down the unpleasantness threatening to explode.

' _What on earth would happen if I vomited blood_?' that surely wasn't going to be good. Especially when humans are eating. The humans suddenly gasped beside Rin while Amon strangely leaned towards him, looking genuinely worried.

"H-hey! Are you alright?!" he exclaimed. Rin felt the redness burning his face and he wanted to nod but he thought doing so would just be a horrible idea.

"Amon," one of the other men called, "get the kid a cab or something! Surely he can't walk in his state."

"How much did you drink, kid?" the shop keeper asked this time.

Rin wanted to glare and say, ' _None of your business, buddy._ ' But it came out in a muffled groan.

Amon simply nodded at his friend and turned back to Rin, suddenly asking whether Rin had money with him to get him home or not.

The boy simply kept himself rigid, staring down at the ground with absolute determination as he fought against the churning in his stomach.

' _Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke, you little shit_!  _If you do, this is gonna be embarrassing_!' he inwardly growled. Now he was sure that bar and Itori was a bad idea.

When Rin didn't reply or even move, Amon simply stared at the boy, looking entirely troubled. Right when he was about to ask for help from his fellow ghoul investigators, the two were suddenly getting off their seats and waving goodbye to Amon.

"Wait, where are you going?!"

Both men were already getting too far to chase down. The taller one then chuckled, saying, "Sorry, it's getting late! We need to go or my sleep schedule will be in trouble!"

"Same here!" the smaller one exclaimed.

Amon simply flinched, frozen in his seat just like Rin who was still trying to gulp down his own vomit and think through the haze in his mind.

Hearing Amon sigh, the nausea was dissipating but now, Rin's head started to pulse painfully before his vision started to double again.

"Hey-"

Amon looked up at Rin's voice and almost gasped at the paleness of the boy's face.

A second later, Rin's cheek slammed against the wooden countertop, the last thing catching his eye being Amon's look of absolute shock before humiliating darkness grasped at him, clawing and trying to consume him. But Rin fought, his eyes rolling around before he finally let them fall shut in exhaustion.

Through the ringing, Rin heard Amon say, "Ah, how troublesome." before he felt Amon pulling both of his wrists.

After a moment, he found himself embracing an incredible warmth, his cheek pressed against a smooth, warm cloth while his nose filled with the familiar scent of Amon's musky cologne. Rin suddenly felt his entire self lift up, a weird tingling sensation tickling his stomach.

With all his might, Rin pulled his eyelids open. Halfway, he was able to see the crook of Amon's neck and the side of his face, his brows knit with slight discomfort and worry. Amon had the young boy on his back.

Seeing the situation he was in, Rin felt the small smile spread on his face before he finally let himself fall into a deep slumber, thinking,

' _He doesn't smell like sweat now_.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was finally able to write this scene. HAHAHA


	8. 1600 Yen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> * Gay intensifies*

 There was a very high pitched ringing in Rin's ears. The boy groaned at the sound, moving against the warm and soft bed under him, carefully curling his fingers into the thick blanket plopped over his bare chest.

"Fuck." He hissed under his breath, groaning once again this time at the banging at his temples. His head was pulsing. Who would have thought that blood could be actually this bad for his health?

' _Never_.' He thought, gingerly shaking his head against the soft pillow and burying his face into it, ' _Never, never again will I go back to that place. I hate alcohol. Fuck life_.'

Heavily sighing, Rin finally decided to get out of bed. His mouth was feeling dry and gross. He needed some water. Lazily pulling his arms out from under him, he pushed against the bed, groaning when his arms felt incredibly weak and brittle as he lifted his head off the pillow.

Once he pulled his head up, he cocked it back, whipping his eyes away from the heavenly brightness beaming into the room and stinging his eyes from the glass window.

"Damn." He muttered, squinting his eyes and struggling to see the cup of water which he usually left at the side table next to his futon. Pushing his arm out, he leaned towards the table with an outreached hand waving into mid-air and still squinting through his lashes.

The boy didn't realize had had leaned too far until gravity had done its job, pulling him down towards the floor and making a shocking jumping feeling burst into Rin's stomach as he flailed, suddenly shouting a very impressive French profanity before he lurched over what seemed to be a railing and finally slipped off the bed and fell to the floor with a loud THUD!

Rin groaned, the fall was strangely high.

"What the fuck?"

Rin pulled his head up, ruffling his hair as he looked around in confusion. Last he remembers, he slept on a flat futon thus, making it impossible to drop unto the floor.

Finally adjusting his vision, Rin blinked. The bed which he fell from was high off the floor-a double decker bed that didn't have the lower bed and instead had a small square table and chair propped right underneath.

Right next to the bed, a very big and heavy looking dumbbell sat, roaring with an intimidating aura. Seeing that he was in a totally different room, Rin started to panic, feeling the flighty thumping in his chest as his face reddened.

'This is  _not_ my house.' Rin wanted to say but he was speechless as he scanned the room, untangling himself from the blankets.

"Where...what?"

What on earth happened while he was out? Rin stared at nothing, a blank look on his pale face as he tried and tried to remember. But there was nothing but frustrating blankness in his mind. All he could remember was getting on a taxi then getting back to the 20th ward. After that, everything else was just a haze, a sea of confusion.

Pulling himself up to his feet, he fought against the piercing headache, stumbling around the room and groaning like a zombie as he searched for his phone.

"Fuck, don't tell me I lost it." he muttered to himself, finally standing in the middle of the neat room and just looking. After a moment, he spotted the mobile sitting right atop a small cabinet propped against the wall. Moving towards it, he switched it on, seeing that the battery was almost dead and that it was already four in the afternoon.

Rin sighed, exhausted. Feeling a sudden chill in the room, the boy shuddered a bit and leaned towards the blanket. Just as he was doing so, he froze. Staring at his outreached arm, he saw it was bare. Blinking, he pulled his gaze further up. A cold breeze teasingly licked his bare back.

As if an alarm bell was ringing in his head, Rin's head whipped down and he gasped, almost gagging on his own saliva.

He was half naked!

Now, the only protection he had from the cold were his black boxer shorts.

The hotness simply exploded in the boy's cheeks and made its way to around his neck as he shouted, instantly wrapping himself with the blanket as if it was going to take his clothes back. Whipping his head around, he desperately looked for his clothes, shuffling around the room and tried pushing away dirty thoughts aside. But, of course, it was impossible. Any drunken person would do the unthinkable when they're intoxicated. And Rin obviously wasn't an exception to that.

Finally, he lost it, his mind reeling in shock and amazement and dropped the blanket, his hands angrily ruffling his already messy hair as he shouted into the air,

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!!!"

A clicking noise echoed in the room. Rin blinked, pulling his head down towards the door where the sound came from.

Right at the doorway, Amon Koutarou stood with one hand on the doorknob and the other holding a briefcase Rin was very familiar with. Right now, the man was wearing a white overcoat but Rin knew very well from the scent of blood light in the air. He just went and killed a ghoul somewhere.

Right then, Rin's eyes burst wide in utter shock as he struggled not to fall back or scream in absolute nervousness.

Rin was about to think about what Amon Koutarou would be doing here when right at the second Amon had closed the door, keeping a puzzled look on his face as he did, Rin finally remembered.

All that happened last night came reeling back, tackling him like a hundred pound bull charging straight into his torso.

Rin opened his mouth to talk. For a moment, nothing but a strangled "Uh" came out.

Amon stared at the boy then crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"I brought you to my house for now." he said then further explained the situation since Rin was just too stupefied to even move. As Amon explained, the only thing Rin gained were more questions. All of them just kept popping in his head and made him more nervous than a college student unprepared for his final exams.

"You didn't have your wallet," Amon said as he placed his briefcase on the floor and moved towards the bathroom then flashed an irritated look at the boy. "and you wouldn't let me touch your cell phone so I couldn't call a cab. Not that there were any passing by. And, you couldn't even get off your own seat."

In the midst of the explanations, Rin was just staring at the floor, thinking of one thing only.

Where was his wallet? Where did he put it? Did he lose it? Give it to someone? Throw it into the river? Eat it? After a moment, the memory blinked back into him and the face of a familiar blonde guy flashed in Rin's mind.

"Really, Rin." Luka had said as he took Rin's wallet with an amused grin, "don't blame me if you won't be able to get home, huh?"

Rin felt the glare on his face now. Well, he really shouldn't blame his band mate....since Rin was the one who voluntarily gave Luka the wallet.

He remembered foolishly thinking it was a lot safer to have someone else hold unto i and keep the money insidet. The annoyance bubbling in his chest, Rin took a deep breath and let loose a heavy breath.

He would still blame Luka though.

' _Why would you even take it from me and not even remember to give it back_?!'

Another voice scoffed in Rin's head. 'W _hy would_ you  _forget to_ _ask it back, dumbass_?'

With that, Rin's shoulders had finally slumped in defeat.

"I'm never drinking again." he muttered under his breath as he carefully picked up the blanket and threw it back up the bed, actually feeling the bags heavy under his eyes.

Turning to Amon now, Rin stared while doing his best not to look cautious. He had to remember that he was Erin Murakami-someone who had just moved to find a new job and good home, someone who had no connections to ghouls or ghoul investigators (especially the one sitting before him) whatsoever. He was a stranger and Amon was just someone who got dragged into his mischief.

Thankfully, the bulkier man was doing his role very well. It seemed Amon didn't recognize him at all. If he did, Rin wouldn't even be alive and ridiculing this situation right now. He knew that since he left the muscle man alive and kicking and cursing his name, Amon would somehow come bursting back into his life for revenge. He never thought they'd actually be brought back together because of a drunken night though!

' _And with me in nothing but boxers too_.'

While Rin was staring in slight amazement, he noticed that Amon was shifting his eyes, blinking now and again and tense in his seat. He was obviously uncomfortable with people staring. Especially when those people were half naked.

Flinching, Rin cleared his throat and pulled his gaze away, urging the hotness in his cheeks to disappear already.

"Um," rin started then quietly, he said, "Thank you."

The boy didn't want to say it. He really didn't want to.

After all those months of running away from the vengeful muscle man, Rin could still remember how much he hated Amon for comparing him to ghouls that can't even control themselves from killing someone. He was capable of that. At times...sometimes.

Rin knew in his head that he was savage too, that he could kill anyone he wanted and not even bat an eyelash at the sight of their blood spilling before him. But how Amon had said it before, how he sounded as if it was obvious that Rin was just going to kill him in the end, Rin hated it.

It was as if Rin was condemned to being a man incapable of letting a human live. Especially a human that helped him reach his murderous goal.

Oblivious of Rin's thoughts, the taller man unexpectedly gave a small smile and Rin had to keep himself from flinching at how gentle he suddenly looked. "Not a problem."

Rin blinked, thoroughly shocked. Was this really the Amon Koutarou he had manipulated into helping him kill a certain ghoul? It was unbelievable how kind he was being to him.

' _Gentle giant..._ ' Rin thought absentmindedly as he watched Amon stand and move towards another room. A moment later, he came out and threw a black hoodie and a pair of black jeans to the boy.

Catching them, Rin sniffed. Newly washed. Looking back up, Rin gave a simple nod of thanks. Instantly, something dark sparked in the boy as he pulled on his pants.

' _Are you gonna let him live again?_ '

Rin wanted to hit himself.

There was no way he could fight against the human on steroids in his condition. He was still slightly disoriented and feeling really sick to the point that he wants to vomit. Other than that, Rin didn't want to push his luck. Since Amon was still alive, it's obvious that the man was capable of living through a fight.

' _Plus, I'm tired_.' Rin thought, feeling a sudden exhaustion flow through him as he pulled his head through the hole of his hoodie.

He hadn't noticed it but with a minute glance, he realized that Amon was watching him as he shrugged off his coat, an amused look on his face.

"You're not even curious as to why your clothes were washed?"

Was he teasing the boy? Rin raised a curious brow at this. "Obviously, I vomited on them, right?"

Amon fully turned to him now, still looking amused with a slight smirk on his face. Rin blinked. Out of curiosity for his reaction, Rin asked, without any hesitation,

"Did you take them off?"

Amon looked like Rin had just slapped him with a dead duck. "Of course not!" he shouted. Rin grinned back, trying not to laugh and feeling satisfied that the man was still so easy to annoy.

"You took them off yourself..." Amon finished.

The boy froze, feeling his face going white at what he had just heard.

' _So when I get drunk, I get reaaaally stupid, eh?_ '

Not wanting to let Amon see him even more embarrassed, Rin cleared his throat and turned away to distract himself from the other man's growing smirk, taking his phone from the table top and checking to see if anyone had called.

There was nothing but Rin's gaze had been taken to the time-large and stick-like numbers staring up at him.

"4:43 pm"

It took Rin a moment to realize but he thought he was forgetting something. Pulling his head up, the boy repeatedly blinked as if trying to wake himself up.

"You start work tomorrow." Yoshimura's voice echoed in his mind.

A second later, his heart heavily pumped once as Rin loudly said, "Fuck."

"Pardon?" Amon loudly asked, sounding very offended.

"Nothing." Rin quickly answered.

Rin on the other hand was starting feel really worried and panicked as he carefully pulled on his sneakers. For once, he was actually seriously frightened of another ghoul. Though Yoshimura seemed like a gentle soul, Rin had his share of horrible bosses. One of his most recent experiences was with his current band manager-Suma. The woman was obviously a demon especially since she had just kicked him out. Then again, Rin could understand. Not showing up twice for a show was highly unprofessional and horrible for fan service.

Other bosses had stamped it into Rin as he worked for them. Being late was  _never_  going to be forgivable. Rin felt his face going cold. He was for the morning shift too. Adding to all that, he had that Kirishima kid to worry about. The girl was small but damn, could she pack a punch. Though Rin was positive he would accept another brawl with her, he preferred not to fight this time. He still felt drunk.

"Sorry but I have to go." Rin said, already moving towards the door.

"Wait!" Amon made a move towards the door, but Rin was faster and had slammed the door shut before Amon could even say something else.

Left alone in his home, Amon sighed heavily to himself, his head hung low in frustration as he glanced through the open laundry room, staring at the dustpan filled with broken porcelain.

"You broke my bowl."

Getting in through Anteiku's back door, Rin quietly shut the door, sneaking towards the serving area as he threw his tie over his neck, not even bothering to tie it up since he was also busy trying to straighten out his bed head.

Right as he walked through the door leading out to the serving area, he was met face to face with the girl he was desperately trying to avoid.

Touka stared at him, wide eyed at first before her expression turned into absolute annoyance. Bravely, she slapped her hand against the back of Rin's head, making the boy's head wobble as he stared at her with a bored, half lidded look. He wanted to strangle the girl or at least throw her across the room but he was exhausted from running and had no energy to even cuss.

"You shit!" Touka hissed under her breath, "Where the fuck have you been, huh?!"

"Gangster." Rin simply muttered back, nonchalantly shoving past the seething girl and towards the serving area. Getting there, he looked up to see if there were any customers then froze. The place was nearly empty with only less than half of the customers he saw the first time he visited Anteiku.

Rin then turned his head to Touka who was right at his tail, still glaring and practically burning with rage.

"Why are you so mad?" Rin nonchalantly asked then nodded towards the dining area, "there isn't even a rush of customers."

"You're still late for more than four hours!" she growled and tried to slap Rin this time but failed since the boy was able to dodge and slyly shuffle away. "How can I take a break when we're short on staff, you bastard?!"

Rin sighed now as he made his way to one of the rooms he recalled Yoshimura saying the coffee beans were in. "Jeez, what a mouth." Rin groaned, "What would you do if a customer heard you say such things?"

"That's true, Touka."

Rin turned to the voice and saw the old ghoul-Yoshimura walking towards them, holding a small bag of coffee beans in his palm. "You should watch what you say." He told Touka, "Sometimes we have child customers, you know?"

Rin glanced at Touka from the corner of his eye, a sly, shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he watched Touka struggle through not saying a bad word.

The boy turned back to Yoshimura now and gave a deep bow. The two other ghouls were silent next to him, both of them supremely shocked by his motion.

"I apologize for being so late." Rin said, "Something held me up."

"And what would that be?" Yoshimura asked.

For a moment, Rin felt a slight sliver of threat in the air and remembered what the old man had asked of him. Now that he was working with these peaceful ghouls, he wasn't allowed to kill anyone so freely. The deal was that if he ever crossed the line, Yoshimura wouldn't help him with finding out what happened to Jin.

But nevertheless, Rin didn't want to explain the situation he was in just an hour ago. He could still remember the look on Amon's face when he accused him of taking off his clothes.

Rin felt his ears go warm, the shaky and amused smile trembling and struggling to break free of his poker face.

"Just...something." Rin simply said and before either Touka or the boss could probe for more, Rin approached Yoshimura, pointing at the bag of coffee beans.

"You said you'd teach me how, right?"

It was already eight in the evening and Rin's shift was over. Since there weren't many customers for the day, Rin was accompanied by the manager for the entirety of the day. For hours, he had been brewing and drinking nothing but coffee.

"The flavor is quite good," Yoshimura had said after the fourth cup Rin made, "but sometimes it changes and you're pouring the water too quickly."

Rin had taken all of the criticism quite well and just kept following what the old man had told him. After all the swirling movements he was doing with his hand, his wrist was starting to hurt.

Rin took a quiet breath through his nose, carefully whirling his wrist now and again as he walked down the street still lively with people. It was a Friday night so younger teens were walking around in flashy clothes. Just seeing them made Rin exhausted.

Even three years ago when he was still nineteen, Rin was never so energetic. But now that he was working as a barista and the drummer for their band, there was no other choice but to have the energy of a six year old that had too much sugar.

Feeling the vibrating in his pocket, Rin pulled out his phone to see the messages his manager was leaving. His phone was practically lighting up each second with a new message, each word in all caps and screaming at him to hurry up and get to the venue they had booked for the night.

' _This would be so much easier if I just killed the woman._ ' Rin thought. He tried to fight past the image of being able to dismantle the woman and just feign innocence when she disappeared.

The pay was good and his band mates were...quite decent humans. They didn't bother him much. And, there was the case of his deal with Yoshimura. Now that Rize was gone, the only lead he had for Jin's death was in Anteiku, harmlessly and leisurely making coffee. He couldn't just go nuts and break his promise.

Sighing, Rin scratched the back of his head, ignoring the flirty looks young girls were giving him as he walked past and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, exposing the lean muscle in his pale forearm.

Getting to the café, Rin made his way to the back door. After being stopped by the guard to show his ID, Rin got to their dressing room to be immediately hounded by his manager.

"Hey, Suma." He greeted, walking towards a vacant seat and not minding the looks of slight uneasiness his band mates were giving him as he greeted them too.

Plopping into the seat, he was instantly lectured by the spiky haired female manager. Rin didn't want to listen to any of it but it was impossible to block it out since Luka was giving him dirty looks, silently telling him to listen or else pay the consequence.

Sighing, rin just listened for a straight twenty minutes until Suma tired herself out and finally told them what they would be playing for the night. A short ten song playlist, they were to play five of the originals Luka and the lead guitarist-Roma had made then five cover songs.

Though Rin enjoyed playing the drum and listening to music, he was feeling the anger brewing in him tonight as he ground his teeth, trying not to burst out and gun down his manager with stabbing words

After their gig, Suma had been the first to leave, obviously anxious to get away from the five boys. At first, Rin couldn't understand why. The humans were quite agreeable. Though they were a rowdy bunch and preferred going on drinks right after their gigs. Luka was already whooping about getting drinks to celebrate the new fans.

"Other than that," he started as he skipped across the road with Sora-their band's lead guitarist. He then glanced at Rin who was too busy thinking of a good excuse to get away from the celebration.

"Rin's back! So we gotta celebrate!" Luka chortled, whooping loudly into the air along with Sora who was the same age as Rin but nowhere near as timid as he was.

From behind the group, Rin listened to his bandmates' racket echoing through the dark and empty streets. The boy inwardly sighed, feeling exhausted. He wanted to just burst into a run and sprint home, why did he have to have such insane band mates?

' _Why would you wanna get drunk_?' he groaned to himself as he whirled one of his drumsticks like a baton. ' _It's a horrible idea_.' He then glanced at Luka who was wailing, struggling to climb atop Sora's back. ' _Especially for Luka._ '

"Hey, Rin!"

The boy glanced through his lashes, seeing Kuruta approaching him with a good natured smile on his oval shaped face, his onyx eyes bright and gentle under his messy silver hair. As usual, being the oldest band member, he was the most tranquil person in the band.

"You can't run away tonight, got it." he said as he pulled an arm over Rin's shoulders. "At least let the guys see you have fun for once."

"God, help me." Rin muttered in reply, gaining a chuckle from the other as they made their way into a familiar ramen shop sitting at the side of the street.

The four other guys were already pouring each other sake, Luka and Sora both laughing wildly when Roma-the second guitarist gagged on his own drink. Rin just laughed along, surprisingly he found their company quite amusing and light. Though they were heavy duty drinkers and did nothing but urge him to drink more, the boy still declined the drinks every time. After two more hours, the three members were already drunk, leaving Kuruta and Rin to take care of them this late in the evening.

At the moment, they were all heading home with Kuruta supporting Roma and Sora while Rin held up Luka, keeping his slender arm over his own shoulders and grimacing at the reek of alcohol steaming from him. Thankfully, they all lived really close to each other and after a while of stumbling around, Rin was finally free of his drunken band mates.

Now, he was walking down the street, exhausted as he undid the top buttons of his shirt, grumbling to himself.

"I'm gonna die if I play around with those guys too much." he groaned as he stuffed his fists into his deep pockets. He was only a corner away from his house when he heard the clopping shoes moving towards him.

Looking up, Rin froze, feeling his eyes widen.

"Oh," Amon hummed, blinking as if he was trying to wake himself. "I found you."

For a moment, Rin felt his heart go nuts. Did Amon know who he really was? It was hard to think through the panic suddenly rising in his chest.

As Amon approached, Rin just watched him and tried to look nonchalant.

"Did you need something?" Rin asked, noting that the man was wearing a formal, black work suit.

"You owe me some money, actually."

The boy froze at that, staring at Amon with a half lidded and very annoyed stare because first, he hated owing people and second he forgot to ask Luka for his wallet again.

Amon scoffed at Rin's tired expression and walked closer, crossing his arms as he looked down at Rin.

"It's not really much. But you broke my bowl and I had to get a cab for us to get to my house."

Rin tried not to let the edge of his mouth twitch in annoyance. ' _How troublesome_.'

"I'll pay you back soon." Rin said, feeling the redness on his face again. "My wallet is still with my friend."

"Please do." Amon replied then shuffling through his pocket then taking out a piece of paper. Staring at it, Rin tried not to laugh. It was a picture of a porcelain bowl. It looked pretty simple with a wavy and graceful, thin rim and a surface painted with emerald mountains. It also cost 1600 yen.

' _Goddamit._ '

"I wrote where you could get it." Amon said, handing him the piece of paper. "When you get it, call me and I'll free you from your debt."

All this was starting to sound quite ridiculous to Rin but he tried not to show it and kept his grin to a minimum as he took the paper. He then looked back up at Amon, narrowing his eyes.

"If you know where it is, then why don't you just wait for my money and get it yourself?"

"I'm a very busy person." Amon simply answered. Rin cocked a brow.

"And me?"

"You're a person who owes me a 1600 yen bowl."

Rin couldn't help it. After staring at the black haired man with slightly wide eyes, the laugh finally shook out of Rin's mouth as he felt his shoulders shake in amusement. It was unbelievable how much of a personality change the guy suddenly had.

Rin did know however that Amon was someone who didn't want to be left unpaid for anything debt but he didn't think he'd actually go as far as this.

' _I'm being hounded for a bowl._ '

The thought was too funny, Rin could only keep chuckling to himself, already feeling his stomach hurting.

Meanwhile, Amon raised his strange brows at Rin's reaction. Though he felt slightly insulted, he kept his dignity, straightening himself and clearing his throat as the hotness spread through his face.

"S-stop laughing!" Amon stuttered before the edge of his eye twitched in sudden annoyance. "You owe me 110 yen too! For the cab ride!"

"Oh, god. Stop." Rin begged, leaning on the street lamp post to support his shaky self.

"Is this how you treat someone who let you sleep on their bed?"

Rin was about to rebuff him by saying that he didn't want Amon's help but he stopped himself.

Looking at the man standing right before him and fuming, Rin still couldn't believe it. Back then, rin was with the ghoul investigator for one week and all they had done was exchange snarky comments and try to horribly injure each other. But now, it was shocking how friendly the muscle man was being. Though he seemed annoyed now, it was nothing compared to how he was when Rin was accompanying him as Cheetah.

' _Maybe he's nice because he thinks you're a human_.'

With this one thought, curiosity once again got the best of him. Was Amon Koutarou actually always like this? Rin had tailed the man before but he was more professional than this. Right now, Rin was trying not to laugh at how childish this all was.

Rin wanted to know more about the man, to see and compare his own notes about Amon. So now, as easy as a breath, he started acting again.

Opening his mouth before closing it again, Rin glanced up at Amon through his lashes, attempting to look apologetic. Apparently it worked since Amon seemed a little less annoyed despite still raising a brow at the boy.

Rin chuckled again and straightened himself.

"Sorry." it was a little difficult to say but Rin got past it and flashed a lop sided grin.

"I'm not used to talking to someone so wholehearted."

Amon gave the boy a puzzled look before glaring at him. It was more of a pout, actually. But Rin kept telling himself that the guy might get angry and he didn't want to drive away a source of goo fun.

"Teasing me, eh?" Amon hummed, his deep and husky voice still sounding pleasantly kind to Rin's ears.

The boy chuckled again then looked back at the paper in his hands. There was a phone number at one side. Most probably Amon's. Sighing, Rin started to turn the corner.

"Alright," Rin called, whirling so that he was facing Amon and walking backwards. "I'll call you when I get the bowl."

Amon didn't say anything else and just stared at the boy, watching the mischevious smirk light up the boy's face. Then he narrowed his eyes at Rin. Seeing the look he was being given, Rin rolled his eyes, hiding the annoyance of remembering how untrusting Amon could be.

"I swear, I'll get it soon." Rin said then finally turned his back on the man. "See ya, 1600 yen."

"It's Amon!" the investigator yelled back in annoyance. Glancing over his shoulder, Rin smirked.

"I'm Erin." He loudly said in return, watching Amon crack a tiny smile. Seeing that, Rin chuckled, for some reason feeling very pleased with himself before he continued walking home, feeling giddy.

He then stared down at the paper in his hands, looking at the price with a red oval drawn around it, seeing how the ends were nowhere near connected to each other.

Walking, Rin didn't notice the wide smile on his face.

**_A.N. Amon's picture is found here:_ **

**https://wall.alphacoders.com/tags.php?tid=34542**

 


	9. Lies for A Price

It’s been just a week after Rin had met with the hound investigator. Until now, he still didn’t have the bowl. Some people would be slightly troubled with the thought of an angry person waiting for payment, but Rin was actually enjoying all this time making Amon wait.

He chuckled to himself, thinking about Amon at night, simply staring at his phone and waiting for his call about a bowl.

From beside him, Touka suddenly appeared, a circular tray propped under her arm as she knit her brows at the boy, looking in confusion. At the moment, he was simply making coffee.

There wasn’t really anything funny about spilling the hot water on his own shirt.

“What are _you_ laughing about?” she asked, placing the tray on the counter next to him and swiping her fringe away from her visible eye.

He didn’t even feel her presence at first and hearing her voice, Rin flinched slightly as his eyes whipped up to her expectant face. Touka knit her brows at him again, waiting.

Trying to clear his face of the grin, Rin shook his head and continued focusing on his coffee making.

“Nothing.” he said, then took the finished coffee from the table top and pulled it up to Touka’s face, watching the dark liquid swirl in the white cup. “How’s this?”

Gingerly taking the cup from his hands, Touka sniffed at the smoke coiling out from the deep brown liquid first then sipped. After a while of silent thinking and staring at the boy’s expectant face, she shrugged. “Not bad.”

Rin nodded, satisfied with himself.

“Now tell me why you’re laughing.”

Rin knit his brows at this now, pulled his head up to the girl and cocked his head back, the expression on his face saying something like: “seriously?”

“I just gave you a sip of great coffee and now you’re demanding something of me?” Rin asked, “People usually get a reward for doing something great, not a nosy question.”

Touka raised a nonchalant brow at him and flatly said, “The coffee wasn’t that great.”

Rin rolled his eyes, groaning and simply turning away from the girl. “It’s none of you business.” He said, already grabbing the glass coffee jug and trying to stride through the narrow hallway.

“Yes it is.” Touka quickly replied, easily catching up to the long legged boy with a hand out and ready to grab his arm. Right when her finger was just an inch away from the cloth of his dress shirt, Rin whirled. A deadly half-lidded glare on his face instantly stopped Touka in her tracks and almost made her stumble back.

“Watch it.” Rin hissed, “I’m not someone who’s always in a good mood.”

“And I’m not someone who really cares.” Touka shot back, glaring harder than she had the first time they met.

Rin stared at her with a half lidded stare, easily losing the sudden explosion of annoyance just a second ago. Now, all he could do was growl at her like an angry dog before turning a corner, rushing into the room where they kept the coffee beans.

“Go away.” he said while thinking, ‘ _Glaring doesn’t work anymore, huh?_ ’

“Not until you tell me.”

Rin heavily sighed, trying not to let the familiar bubbling under his skin get hotter. “Seriously, what is your problem?” he asked, reaching for the can of ground Arabica coffee and letting the rough smell of the beans run up his nostrils.

 “Is your paranoia a family trait or something? Not something you can get rid of so easily?”

He wasn’t usually so talkative. Usually people scurried away with his simple glare and the words ‘Go away’ hissing out of his mouth. Touka was obviously an exception. Ever since the day he started working in the café, she seemed to be much more comfortable around Rin. Likewise, Rin seemed more comfortable with the company too.

And he didn’t like it at all.

It was a rule of his. Never get too close to anyone.

The times he let this happen, all he was reminded of was the stress that built up on him. The first time was when he let himself name his brother as ‘Best Friend’. That same brother locked his life away from Rin and mysteriously died, not leaving anything at all for his little brother. And the other time was when he slept with Rize Kamishiro and said too much about his own life. Thanks to that, she was able to manipulate him and see him annoyed-it wasn’t really a mood Rin appreciated.

The room was quiet for a bit, save for the sound of Rin grunting and trying to reach the can at the top of the shelf.

Not looking the least bit put off, Touka kept her glare on the boy, her deep purple eye not even showing an ounce of fear anymore.

“We’re watching you right now.” she said, “If you’re off planning some sick, sadistic-“

“It’s not really that sick.” Rin briskly said, cutting her off. He couldn’t stop himself. The grin burst from his face at the thought of Amon’s pouting face while he muttered about his dear bowl.

“-I swear, if you try and kill any other-“

“I’m not killing anyone!”

“Then why are you smiling?!”

“BECAUSE OF A FREAKIN’ BOWL, ALRIGHT?!!”

Neither of them noticed it but right as Rin screamed, revealing the topic of his amusement, the door had whipped open, letting a sudden draft of wind smash into the room and caress Rin’s face.

Blinking at the sudden lightening of the small room, both Rin and Touka turned to the door to see the newest addition in Anteiku staring right at them, looking a tad bit worried.

The boy was a head shorter than Rin. With his neatly brushed black hair and the wide, innocent look in his single, visible eye, one wouldn’t think of him as a ghoul. Just another kid who either wants to be fashionable because of the eye patch he wore, or a kid who’s actually recovering from an eye injury.

“Uh, what…” he stuttered, his glances flying to Rin then away then back again in a mad and frightened dance, “Are you guys fighting again?”

‘ _As usual_ ,’ Rin thought, ‘ _The kid’s still scared of me_.’

Rin turned his head to the boy now and moved out of the room, but not before glaring at Touka who was staring at Rin with a very puzzled and shocked look on her face that simply wondered about what she just heard.

“Kaneki, if the manager asked, tell him this crazy lady started it.” Rin said, quickly striding past the startled employee and running away from the angry girl.

Touka growled, her features instantly turning feral and hateful as she gripped the doorways with such force, Kaneki’s face paled at the sight of the wood almost flattening under her fingers.

“Crazy lady?!” she shrieked, “You little s-“

“Touka-chan?”

She whipped her gaze to Kaneki this time. “What?!” she growled.

Easily enough, the eye patched kid jumped like a rabbit. After a minute of silence, he finally asked,

“You were fighting about a bowl?”

 

“How are things going along with Jin?” the manager asked from behind the counter. At the moment, it was already closing time and Rin was busy wiping the tables and putting the chairs over them. Beside him, Kaneki was cleaning the windows and for a split second he glanced at Rin, gauging his reaction at the mention of Jin.

Of course, he knew as well. Practically everyone working in Anteiku knows. Touka wasn’t exactly quiet. Especially when it came to talking about Rin.

Outside, the sun’s orange streams were gleaming through the wide glass windows, bathing Rin’s dark hair and turning it into a shiny bronze. Rin sighed at the manager’s question, slowing down his wiping for a bit and stared at the table. Unlike the setting sun, Rin was nowhere near the end of Jin’s story.

‘ _I haven’t even started_.’

Blinking and silently clearing his throat with a swallow, Rin continued wiping and tried to look as if the manager’s question didn’t get him frustrated at all. But of course, the manager was able to pick up on this even with his eyes that looked as if they were shut tight.

“Have you tried talking to other people?” Yoshimura asked. This frustrated the boy. Rin entirely stopped wiping, the muscles on his back shifting and stiffening as he slowly exhaled.

Seeing this, Kaneki froze up and tensed his shoulders, waiting for Rin’s outburst. It was what usually happened whenever people started asking about his brother. Especially when it was Touka who was doing the asking. At the end of the Q and A, Rin would most likely storm out, glare at everyone who asked or he would throw something against the wall.

‘ _The last one was a chair, I think_.’ Kaneki recalled as he waited for Rin to smash the towel against the counter and revel at the sound of the cups and coffee bags breaking.

But the shop remained silent.

Rin was frozen, staring down at the table with an uncharacteristically quiet look on his face. With a touch of the orange sun rays on his cheek, Kaneki couldn’t help but stare both in awe and fright at the way he saw Rin’s eyes gleam with the sun.

“I have.” Rin quietly said. Right after, he growled and slammed his fist against the table, causing Kaneki to jump under his skin.

‘ _There it is_.’ Kaneki thought, instantly feeling shaky and moving away from the taller boy.

“But no one here knows anything, Yoshimura.” Rin growled, grinding his teeth together.

Deep in his chest, he felt a sort of helplessness. At first, the thought if finding out about Jin seemed to be possible. But after the few weeks he had spent working in Anteiku, making friends and talking with those who didn’t seem to be afraid of him, he still hasn’t moved from the starting line.

‘ _I don’t think I’m even there_.’

Rin wasn’t aware of it, but everyone in the room who was watching could see it. The way Rin’s brows knit up together and the way his lips slightly curved down. Not angrily, but in the most pitiful way.

The helpless look of a child trying to convince himself that the frightening clown was just a joke. That everything wasn’t real. That he shouldn’t cry.

At one corner of the room, Touka stood at the doorway, staring at Rin’s back and watching it carefully rise and fall as he let his head hang down, looking as if defeat had an anvil and dropped it right on top of him and he was still trying to fight against it.

Feeling the stares on his back, Rin suddenly grew stiff. The look of sadness in his eyes instantly disappeared and was replaced with a startled fear, wide and clear in his eyes.

Carefully, he pulled his head back up and turned to face the manager. For a moment, that’s all that he did-stare at the gray haired man and study his wrinkled face.

At both sides, Touka and Kaneki quickly tensed up, the girl getting ready to lunge Rin if he ever attacked and Kaneki looking extremely frightened and worried despite the fighting stance he took towards Rin.

Yoshimura stared back at Rin, unshaken and for some reason, was looking just as sad as rin did a few seconds ago.

Rin looked as if he had no idea what he was doing. With continuous blinks of his eyes, Rin folded the cloth in his hands and plopped it unto the tabletop. “You guys finish up.”

He sighed heavily, moving away from the tables now, his face hard and cold again.

“I need to get somewhere.”

 

The sun had fully set now and the streets were busy and noisy with humans. All around him, Rin could smell the flesh. He already had his fill of food just a few weeks ago but his stomach was fidgeting. Was it because he hasn’t eaten another ghoul after such a long time?

‘ _I’m getting soft._ ’ He thought in disgust, suddenly rolling his eyes at the fact that the meat he ate wasn’t even one he hunted. A few weeks ago, he was banned from hunting and was kept on a diet of people who committed suicide.

“Just to get the Doves off your tracks for a bit.” Yoshimura had said.

The old man was annoyingly cautious.

‘ _Well, it might be best_.’ Rin thought.

After all, he needed a crystal clear path to get to the bottom of Jin’s death. If Doves were on his heel, it would be extremely risky to go where he was getting close to right now.

After a few more minutes of walking, Rin was already standing before the familiar red door and the sign stuck to the wall. Pulling his black hood down, he huffed, feeling slightly annoyed at the fact that he was coming back to Helter Skelter after what had happened the first time.

Taking the knob in his hands, he turned and pushed the door open.

As usual, there weren’t many people inside. Maybe just three people. As he walked, Rin hoped that Itori wasn’t the one manning the counter at the moment. Though she was the one informant he knew, Rin didn’t really like her. She might be as noisy as Touka but her cheerfulness wasn’t something Rin wanted to see today.

Right as he took a seat on one of the stools, a flash of red burst from below the counter yelling,

“ **BOO!!!”**

Right before him, there was a clown mask grinning with a wide and crimson red mouth and two dots for eyes. The girl behind the mask tilted her head, waving her fingers in the air like a dancer who loves doing Spirit fingers too much.

“Itori.” Rin loudly said, glaring hard at the mask. Now he was really pissed off.

The red haired girl giggled in response, obviously pleased with her little prank.

“Well, whatadya know? The great Cheetah is actually afraid of jump scares.” She cooed, pulling the mask away and revealing the tinge of pink on her cheeks, the pure red smirk of her lips and the familiar slyness in her eyes.

“I’m not afraid of jump scares.” Rin hissed, each words sounding angrier than the last.  

“Right,” Itori then nodded towards Rin’s fingers, curved and clawing at the countertop as if he was trying not to fall off his chair. “Tell that to your wicked claws.”

“Will you listen already?” Rin growled, slowly feeling the vial of patience in his head carefully empty itself. He tried not to let it show but the girl really did shock him. At the moment, he was glaring hard at her but he could feel his face going cold at the sudden jump she did.

Probably feeling the hatred and bloodlust Rin was dispensing into the air, Itori finally placed the mask on the tabletop again and carefully patted the air.

“Okay, okay.” she hummed before crossing her arms over her chest. “What are you here for?”

For a second, Rin contemplated it. He should’ve thought of what he would say earlier. With her being an informant, she obviously had to be the careful type. The worst thing a reporter could do was give away the wrong information and in this world, she’d be killed for it. If she was that kind of person, she would surely ask why Rin was looking for a man named Jin.

The big problem was,

‘ _She already knows my real name_.’ so if Jin’s name came into the picture…if the name Ishikawa was ever said and it was made known that Cheetah was still alive, Rin would be thrown into fire again with the Doves on his back and would have to leave the 20th Ward.

Being the cautious guy he is, Rin wanted to make sure that those who knew his real name were kept at a minimum. So far, the only person he didn’t trust with his name was the girl standing before him with a grin plastered on her face.

He barely knew her and didn’t know if she was saying the truth at all but she knew his biggest secret at the moment.

“Cheetah.”

Rin’s eyes whipped up and Itori instantly leaned away, taken aback by the wide glare on Rin’s face, the growl on his curled lips. For a second, he thought she could hear his thoughts.

Carefully, she pulled up her arms, her palms facing Rin. “I mean…Rin.”

It took almost all his strength not to jump off his seat and snap the girl’s neck in half. For some reason, being in this bar made him feel superbly uncomfortable right now. Swallowing, he listened to the girl’s silence, noting the high tension between them. He had to remember, there were other people in the room. Making a scene would probably be the worst idea for him.

He curled his mouth, about to tell Itori to shut up and not say his name but he stopped himself.

‘ _If you want to hide, hide in plain sight_.’

A second later, Rin pulled his glare away, carefully turning his head to the side like a stubborn wild leopard and placing his folded arms over the tabletop.

“Sorry.” he muttered, staring at the wall and attempting to steady his breaths.

Staring at him for a second, Itori easily regained her jolly mood and simply laughed rin’s bad mood off. “HAHA! Not a problem, kid!” she said before turning to the shelves of liquor.

“Must’ve had a rough day, huh?” she asked, popping open a green bottle and taking a wine glass from the side. “Some ghoul try and bully you or something?”

Rin was silent for a moment, thinking. If he was going to ask about Jin he had to do it plainly. Sneaking around wasn’t going to help him. He glanced up at Itori now, watching her pour the blood wine into the glass.

‘ _Especially with an informant_.’

Then, he thought, ‘ _It’s not like she knows whether or not we’re really related_.’

Looking away from her again, he finally spoke. “Someone’s run away from me, actually.”

Instantly, Itori’s face brightened in curiosity.

 “Seriously?!” she exclaimed, turning fully to him and placing the blood wine in front of him. There was a sudden smirk on her face, her stare half-lidded and a look Rin was greatly familiar with. It reminded him of when Rize first flirted with him.

“Who’d wanna run away from you?” she asked in a purr, her middle finger circling the rim of the wine glass. Right then, she stopped twirling and raised a brow at the boy, the seductive air she was attempting instantly dispersing from the conversation.

“Did you cheat on a girlfriend? That’s why she ran away from you? Are you actually a dick?”

“Your questions are incredibly scathing.”

She chuckled at that, a low and attractively deep sound. Then she headed back to the shelves of liquor, taking the bottle of blood wine and placing it next to the full cup before Rin.

“Do you know anyone named Ishikawa?” the boy finally asked, glancing up at the girl from under his lashes. There was a seemingly long second that she only stared at Rin. She tilted her head to the side, looking puzzled then asked,

“Aren’t you Ishikawa?”

Rin glared at her in return. Other than the incredible and annoying question much too like a joke, Rin also gave a glare at the fact that she did know his last name.

‘ _And she kept asking about it the first time we talked_.’ He thought in disdain. Of course, she knew his last name was Ishikawa. Everyone who watches the news about ghouls and heard about Cheetah did. Now, he knew that the girl was actually a liar. He had to be a little more careful now.

Hiding the glare on his face, Rin replaced it with a roll of his eyes. Since she lied to him, it was time for the boy to turn the tables on her.

“I’m another Ishikawa.” He simply said, taking the wine glass by its stem and pulling the rim to his nose. Carefully, he inhaled and instantly, the scent of blood was heavenly. The sweet and rustic aroma swirling into his nostrils. Like the sweet blood twirling smoothly around a bubble in the glass, moving around it and making it whirl, Rin had to be like the blood.

‘ _Smooth and untroubled_.’

Though there was the voice in his head, cooing, ‘Liar’ again and again, Rin simply waved it away, instantly formulating a new story in his head.

“This Ishikawa ran away from me. We had unfinished business. I’d very much like to get back to my life and stop chasing him around.”

Remembering all this, Rin felt a sudden anger poking at his chest, carefully growing and festering until all of a sudden, he detested his brother.

“The bastard didn’t care and simply disappeared.” Rin spat, glaring at his reflection in the thick blood. In his eyes, he could see Jin’s staring up at him.

“Fucker.”

Itori stayed quiet before him, silently sipping the blood and watching the boy as she did. Finally, she spoke.

“Well, I don’t know a lot of people named Ishikawa.” She said. Rin had to resist the urge to let his shoulders sag in defeat once again.

“Hey, I never said I didn’t know anyone.”

Rin blinked at this, feeling slightly puzzled as he knit his brows. Looking up, he saw her raised brow and the expectant look in her eyes as if she was waiting for him to ask something so obvious.

“What?”

“I do know someone named Ishikawa.” She continued before taking a long chug of blood, wiping the red trickling down her lower lip. “His name was Jin. Well…I guess I _knew_ about him.”

Hearing his name from another person, Rin habitually shuddered. It was unnatural to see that his brother was so popular when he was determined to keep him in the shadows.

Not wanting Itori to see the excitement bubbling over the annoyance in him, Rin shifted in his seat, trying not to grin.

Of course, he was able to keep the grin off. But not totally. Now, there was an evil curve at the corner of his lips and a dark glare on his face. For some, it might look frightening and worrying but Helter Skelter’s owner disagreed.

“PFFFFFT!!!” Itori then chortled, slamming her hand on the glass and making Rin cock his head back in surprise at her sudden amusement. Her shoulders shaking, she tried to pull her head up but couldn’t even breathe. Wheezing, she managed to say,

“You-you look like a pervert!!”

Rin twitched in his seat. He wanted to strangle her so bad. But his kagune this time was the one to disagree. Losing control of his anger, Rin felt the heat in his lower back spread through his skin like a warm blanket smoothing over his skin. Before he knew it, the tip of his kagune was touching the hairs on Itori’s head, pulsing with a red that itched to drive into her skull.

She was still laughing, oblivious to the rinkaku brooding over her head.

“O-okay,” she breathed, wiping a tear from under her eye before she gazed up at him in a sly look. “Don’t you wanna know where he is?”

Rin narrowed his eyes. “He’s dead.” Rin said, “If you tell me that he’s six feet under us, I will definitely kill you.”

Itori quickly giggled at that, nonchalantly taking another sip of blood from her glass. “That’s a cute joke. I didn’t know you knew about such things.” she giggled.

“Will you just tell me already?” Rin groaned. This was taking much too long and Rin was getting sleepy.

“At a price.” Itori said, the grin widening on her face now, “I can’t just go around telling you information. Knowledge is more valuable than life, you know?”

Rin resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this. As someone who was naturally careful and didn’t even bother to check who he was killing, he knew that better than anyone.

“What’s your price?” he asked. At first, he thought she would ask for money but…she might think that something like that is too easy. Rin would’ve agreed. For him, money wasn’t really a problem. He knew how to save up and knew how to get a lot more than he already had.

For a moment, Itori seemed deep in thought, her eyes subtly shifting left and right as if she were calculating things in her head.

“Ah,” she suddenly hummed, immediately gaining Rin’s full attention.

‘It better not be something like a prank.’ Though he was quiet and light on his feet, Rin never liked doing pranks. Especially these days. He’s been feeling a little calmer now.  

Right then, Itori said the most ridiculous thing Rin’s ever heard of.

“Infiltrate the CCG.”


	10. Unexpected Meetings

The good thing about the price for this information was that it wasn’t money. For Rin, money weighed so much more over his own life. Ever since he could remember, he’d been running away, risking his life from all kinds of people. This being done almost on a daily basis, he was used to putting his life on the line for even the most ridiculous of reasons. But money. Money was different and difficult to lose for a ghoul on the run.

After a long second of staring at Itori’s mischievous smirk, Rin nonchalantly let his eyes float away, his shoulders lazily bobbing. “I can get away.”

Despite his confident words, he could feel the prick of doubt tugging at his mind like an amused child.

Itori obviously didn’t buy his façade however. She raised a brow at the boy and asked, “How?”

 “I don’t know, I’ll figure it out later.” Rin said. His eyes suddenly floated back towards Itori and saw that she was holding down a giggle. The girl’s amusement was unmistakable. Thoughtfully humming to herself, Itori leaned down the countertop, resting her elbows on the glass top and folding slim hands under her chin.

“I wonder…” she hummed with a smirk on her plump lips, her eyes glimmering with a dark curiosity that simply made Rin go tense. “What exactly did Jin do to you to rile you up so much? You don’t seem like the type to put in much effort into things.”

Rin stared at her for a moment, glaring. Just like the blood swirling lazily in his glass, he allowed his anger and annoyance to fill the air around his form, snaking around him and curling like a dark mist until he finally saw Itori’s smirk carefully shrink into a smaller, mildly uncomfortable smile.

Pulling away, Itori straightened herself and crossed her arms. “Alright. I won’t ask.”

Rin wanted to sigh in relief. Though he was currently in a situation where exchanging information was necessary, the boy still cringed at the idea of telling Itori why he was looking for Jin. Actually, even the old man back in Anteiku shouldn’t know about his plans.

‘ _Yet you’re here working for him and his human loving fools_.’

Right then, Itori’s mischievous grin shook him out of his thoughts.

 “But now, I won’t tell you anything more about Jin.”

Rin instantly felt his eyes pulse in a heated red. He did tell himself that he had to keep calm before he got to Halter Skelter but obviously, he still needed more practice.

Behind him, he heard another customer’s chair shudder, toppling to the floor as a stifled gasp rang like Christmas bells in Rin’s ears. Not even taking a glance at the frightened customer, Itori laughed good naturedly at Rin, waving her palms in front of his face, “Hey, hey, I told you, didn’t I?”

The girl bent over a bit, the smirk easily resurfacing on her pale face. “Quid pro quo.”

Rin grinded his teeth down, still glaring at the girl who finally seemed to be showing that she was actually enjoying herself as she muttered-“Quit frightening my customers, will ya?!”.

 With a final huff, Rin took his glass, swigging the thick liquid down without even tasting the tangy sweetness he first experienced. Well, with the annoyance bubbling in him right now, it seemed impossible to enjoy a good drink anyway.

“Forget it.” Rin muttered under his breath, listening to the bottom of the glass clacking against the table top as he turned his back to the red haired girl.

“Not interested in Jin anymore?” Itori called in a sing song voice. “Or why I want you to go to the CCG?”

Rin wanted to know, of course but a more dominant side of him wanted to go home already. All throughout their conversation, he’d been feeling the familiar tugging at the back of his stomach-a subtle warning that he had to run away. Rin never knew what he had to run away from but he never stuck around to find out. Other than that, he’s given away enough information to this woman.

Rin rolled his eyes at Itori’s question, halfway to the door already. He whirled, turning fully to Itori and coolly walking backwards, “I don’t wanna pay up anymore.” He said, “Whatever your reason, I’ll get into their nest.”

The sound of the door opening clicked in Rin’s ears. He was about to turn around but he caught a glance of Itori’s face. Her cheeks had lost their rosy color and her mischievousness and curiosity were replaced with a single emotion. Fear.

It was clear in the way she held herself-frozen and careful with her movements, that said Rin had to be careful with the newcomer. And he himself could feel it. Like an animal instinct buried deep in his system, Rin felt the tensing in shoulders, the coldness scratching at the back of his neck.

He had to refrain from gasping. This person was probably just like Rize or worse.

“Outta the way, kid.”

The deep voice like churning gravel instantly made Rin’s spine shudder and the sudden bumps rising on his skin were strange.

 Rin didn’t like it at all.

Though he was known to be one of the tough ghouls who wouldn’t let just anyone push him around, the boy did know his limits and right now, he was snagged on it.

Rin took careful breaths and without fully turning, he turned his head, slowly pulling his eyes towards the person standing behind him. The moment he laid eyes on who it was, Rin almost hissed a curse before he felt his eyes subtly widen.

The man wore an immaculate white suit, his black dress shirt neatly tucked in his trousers. With his clothes, one wouldn’t think he would be so threatening but Rin knew who he was and shuddered at the thought of his name. Especially when the boy looked further up and saw the almond shaped eyes, glaring down at him like an angry lizard and the slicked back blonde hair simply reminded Rin of a dragon’s head.

Rin knew many ghouls who were formidable adding to people who should never be joked around with. Among them were the old man-Yoshimura, Yomo, his own brother-Jin, maybe even that gangster girl Touka…and of course, Rize. But the one he wished he would _never_ meet was standing right behind him, and the man’s glare was turning deadlier by the second.

“You deaf, kid?” the 13th ward’s Jason growled, his voice sharper and even more annoyed.

Rin instinctively searched for some kind of bodyguard to push him out of the blonde man’s way, but the bulky man was alone.

 _‘Like_ he’d _need body guards_.’ Rin scoffed scornfully to himself despite the fact that he was about ready to burst into a ridiculous panic.

Jason, also known as Yamori, was probably the most brutal ghoul Rin has ever heard about. The boy has seen the bulky man around too back when he wandered into the 13th ward. There, Rin saw almost every ghoul flinch away at the sight of Yamori’s white suit. It wasn’t just because of his gargantuan body or his creepy lizard like eyes, but it was because of what people heard he did.

The last thing Rin heard about Jason was that he was extremely strong and frighteningly quick. Pair that up with his murderous tendencies and his reported extreme sadism, Rin wouldn’t dare come close to this ghoul. Other than that, Yamori also practices cannibalization and most of all, he was a part of a ghoul organization called Aogiri.

 Rin didn’t know much about them except that he should stay away from them.

“Yamori.” Itori suddenly called, her voice instantly calming Rin and reminding him that he wasn’t facing such a monster alone. But it wasn’t enough to calm the boy. All around him, Rin could feel the disgusting slithering of hatred around him. It was as if the very air of the bulky man was screaming about how much he wanted to kill Rin right then and there.

‘ _If you don’t move right now, you’re fucking dead_.’ Rin’s own voice hissed in a panic.

Yamori kept his eyes on Rin, both of them staring at each other, unmoving.

For a second, Rin could just see himself getting ripped into shreds by the man’s bare hands. He felt his lower back heat up, his kagune itching to just stab a hole through the ghoul and let him run away as fast as he can. But of course, doing that was probably the worst idea Rin could think of doing.

Right when Rin thought he was going to get flung into the wall, Yamori straightened himself, the pressuring thickness in the air dissipating around Rin and releasing him.

“Who’s this little brat?” Yamori asked, pulling his chin up and finally moving past Rin and heading towards the bar as if Rin was actually just a stray pup unworthy of attention.

Rin instantly flashed a look towards Itori, trying not to glare or give away any hint that he was keen on hiding his identity. He hasn’t done anything to the 13th ward’s extreme sadist but he really didn’t want Jason to know who he was. Rin knew that he-Cheetah was a famous ghoul and lots of other ghouls would kill to find out where he was and who he was masquerading as at the moment.

‘ _That would be all kinds of ghouls…probably ghouls that would pay cash_.’

In the pit of his stomach, Rin had a feeling that if Yamori knew he was Cheetah, fighting would be the least of his worries. No wonder he wanted to get out of the bar so quickly.

‘ _Should I say something?_ ’ Rin’s voice rang. Itori hasn’t said anything yet. She was just staring at Yamori, her eyes guarded despite the resurfaced smile on her face.

Though he doesn’t know Itori very well, it was obvious to him that the woman had no sides. She was a neutral party. And obviously, those who had nothing to lose were the ones who are the most dangerous.

Rin felt his heart palpitating now, the light ringing in his ears and the numbness in his stomach.

If Rin ran away now, Yamori would probably be curious to the point that he would follow the kid. If Rin spoke and revealed himself, Yamori would probably track him down someday for some reason.

And if Itori spoke…even Rin doesn’t know what would happen. With the bad luck he has, the woman would practically scream that Rin was Cheetah.

Before Rin could make up his mind and wade through the chaos in his head, Itori suddenly shrugged her shoulders. Pulling up a glass, she said,

“No idea. But he’s a hell of a drinker.” A wink was sent Rin’s way and the boy made sure that the way his shoulders finally relaxed wasn’t too obvious.

‘ _Act. Now_.’

Rin quickly rolled his eyes and finally turned his back to the duo.  “See ya, Itori.”  He loudly said, the sound of his own heart endlessly drumming through his ears as if he’d just run a marathon.

Finally, he got through the door, shutting it behind him. Taking a deep breath, Rin tried not to run and hoped that Jason wouldn’t come running after him. But before Rin shut the door, he glanced back for a second and shuddered at the small smirk on Yamori’s face.

* * *

 

The streets had darkened now and Rin was back in the 20th ward, thinking hard as he strolled down the dark streets filled with the echoes of chirping crickets.

After many attempts of forgetting about Itori’s little dare, Rin still couldn’t stop himself from wondering why she told him to infiltrate enemy territory. Of course, Rin has heard lots of ghouls muttering amongst themselves about infiltrating the CCG and killing all the troublesome humans, but so far, he’s never actually heard about a ghoul successfully slipping in before getting out alive.

Rin suddenly raised a lazy brow, watching the pavement move under his feet.

‘ _Does she actually want me dead_?’

It was perfectly understandable for the boy. The list of people who probably want to kill him is nothing short of a flowing river. Rin wasn’t even shying away from the thoughts that, surely, even Itori probably would have been in a deal to kill Cheetah if she ever laid eyes on him.

Huffing and stuffing hands into his jacket pocket, Rin let himself mull over the thought as his eyes caught sight of his condo complex’ roof.

Why did Itori want him in the CCG?

With the red haired ghoul’s grin flashing in Rin’s head, the boy could only feel the troubled grimace on his face, his teeth grinding down on each other as he wrestled with decisions.

“There might be something about that guy there.” Rin said out loud, staring high up into the sky and watching the stars subtly stutter over his head as he thought about Jin.

 ‘ _Either that or…_ ’

Taking a breath, the boy felt his eyes darken and he couldn’t stop himself from seeing the image of him fallen before a ghoul investigator. His own body blanketed with a sheet of his own blood and shuddering with exhaustion while a lone ghoul investigator stood over him, a quinque pointed at his throat, gleaming and crackling like the angel of death’s sword.

The boy felt his heart wring itself, churning uncomfortably in his chest. Around him, crickets chirped, the cool night wind smoothing against his skin and gently waking him from his own thoughts.

Rin knit his brows together, suddenly feeling annoyance bubble at his skin. He loudly clicked his tongue, feeling his eyes growing darker than the night sky as he detested the wind licking at his hair.

“As if those assholes scare me.” he hissed, kicking at the pavement and practically stomping towards his home.

Climbing the stairs and taking them two at a time, Rin reached his door within just a few steps. In that small distance, Rin had decided on his course of action.

The next day, Rin was a romping mess. Waking up at 10 am, the boy was in for a heap of trouble back at Anteiku. His alarm didn’t ring today and at first, he had no idea as to why it didn’t rip through his morning daze but then he realized he actually hadn’t swiped at the ‘on’ button.

Now, he was in his bathroom, angrily brushing his teeth and listening to the growls amidst the sound of his toothbrush swiping hard against his teeth.

‘ _That gangster girl’s gonna kill me._ ’ Rin thought, noting that he still had bed head and still had his eyes under the mercy of the dark circles of exhaustion.

Spitting out the suds in his mouth, Rin stared down at the water swirling down the sink drain.

Now and again, thoughts of skipping work knocked at his head. After all, it was already 10:15. His shift was at 8 am and Touka…actually, not even old man Yoshimura approved of tardiness. These days, they were getting stricter on him for some reason and either one of them would instantly scold him once he fails to show up for his shift.

Other than that, he really didn’t want to leave the house.

For some reason, he thought that caging himself in his house was the best decision at the moment.

‘ _Staying around those guys…is not good for what I should actually be doing_.’

All too suddenly, Amon’s annoyed smirk flashed in Rin’s mind, the memory of the ghoul investigator childishly and practically pouting about Rin’s lack of gratefulness for Amon’s help when he got drunk.

The edge of his eye twitched. For some reason he felt even more exhausted.

Planting his face on his hand, Rin hissed to himself, “It’s not about him either, damn it.”

‘ _It’s about Jin_.’ Rin thought, ‘ _This is about finding out who killed him._ ’ pulling his head up, there was a certain calmness in his face, his eyes once again the cool and quiet façade he was so used to showing everyone.

“This is about Jin.”

Huffing, Rin continued fixing himself up but not for work.

He was going to the CCG, right now.

* * *

 

Leaving the house, Rin inspected his clothing. For a moment, he made a face at his own fashion choices.

Were black jeans, a simple grey hoodie and black chucks really a good choice of clothes to wear for infiltration missions?

Even until now, he still had no clue as to how he was going to get into the building. He knew nothing about the place since he never, not once even dared to go into that place. Back then, even he knew the difference between daring and plain stupid.

Blinking, the boy pursed his lips then simply shrugged. Moving out of the complex, the boy thought it would be best to think it over while walking.

* * *

 

Rin stood before the CCG, staring at the tall building and watching investigators go in and out through the glass doors. The place was a strange piece of architecture. Basically, it was a tall, rectangular slab with one fourth of it cleanly hollowed out. Through the glass windows, Rin could see humans busily walking about.

Swallowing, Rin did his best to keep his wits about him. Though he knew in himself that he was barely afraid of anything and would gladly take on ten of those Doves all at once, he was as stiff as a board at the moment.

His hand balling up in the pockets of his hoodie, he tried to shove past the haze on his head, thinking about what to do next.

‘ _Alright, genius_.’ His conscience pricked, ‘ _You’re here. Now, what_?’

Rin glared at the air now, moving forward and turning towards the bulletin board standing at the side of the wide path. Staring at the news on it, his eyes were on a picture set of a girl’s clothing. The CCG was looking for a child ghoul.

Rin stared hard at the picture, trying not to let his glare set off.

 ‘ _So they’re still hunting Hinami down, huh._ ’

He hasn’t had a chance to talk with the little girl but just recently, she started living in the second floor of Anteiku with the care of Touka (which was a big surprise for Rin) and the manager.

He didn’t try to talk to her. Other than the fact that he never thought he was good with kids, she was most probably frightened of him.

In the middle of his thoughts, the wind suddenly picked up, rustling through the trees and pushing up Rin’s hair. Then, a huge whiff of rust in the air.

Rin almost flinched. The stench of ghoul blood was unmistakable. Feeling his heart pound with uneasiness, he badly wanted to look at what dove was bathed in such a smell but he held himself down, pretending to be more interested in the bulletin board.

The smell quickly got stronger and Rin heard the clop of shoes getting closer to him. He inwardly groaned.

‘ _I picked a horrible spot to be in_.’ Though he was reckless, it was probably too much of a stretch to be in the middle of the Dove’s path.

Along with the smell of blood, a familiar cologne wafted into Rin’s nostrils.

“Ah. You again.”

Realizing he was the one being addressed, Rin glanced at the corner of his eye, slightly turning his head and froze.

Approaching him was Amon Koutarou. As usual, he was wearing his work uniform and grasped the quinque suitcase in one hand. Despite the sinister scent of his clothes, Amon’s features seemed to relax at the sight of Rin.

“What are you doing here?” Amon asked, his low and husky voice sounding a little too loud for Rin at the moment. Rin blinked, not knowing what to tell him. At that, the boy started to feel the cold sweat threatening to crack through his acting game.

Should he say that he was here because he wanted to ‘work’ in the CCG?

Becoming a ghoul investigator right this second wasn’t a bad idea. After all, that’s what ‘infiltrate’ means. The problem is, he knew nothing about the place. For all he knows, there could be ghoul traps right at the door and he’d be caught red handed to fight against hundreds of those parasitic doves.

Or,

Before Rin could even think about the consequences, he stuttered-

“I-I was looking for you…actually.”

The words came out hurried and shaky. In other words, it was absolutely, loathsomely unlike Rin. Hearing himself and seeing the look of surprise on Amon’s face, Rin felt his face instantly explode in red.

“Oh? You have a boyfriend waiting for you, Amon?” a raspy voice chuckled.

The man came up all too suddenly from behind Amon. Rin didn’t even notice the mess of silver hair or the wide and sunken mantis-like eyes sitting over the frightening grin.

All Rin noticed was the redness still exploding on his face and the shakiness of his arms at the man’s words.

Rin stuttered once again, “B-boyfriend-“

Despite the straightness of Rin’s back and the cool, nonchalant façade Amon and Kureo Mado were faced with, Rin was undoubtedly bursting with a flurry of emotions inside.

“Mado!’ Amon loudly shouted in embarrassment, his face a mirror of Rin’s at the moment. “He’s not-“

“It’s perfectly fine, Amon.” The silver haired man snickered, his tone perfectly relaxed, “these days, I know that relationships are quite limitless.”

Instantly remembering his experiences with Amon and the verbal and physical fights they’ve had with each other, Rin regained his calm and felt the redness of his face cooling.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Rin hissed through gritted teeth, giving flighty glares towards Amon now and again before stubbornly turning away from the tall muscle man.

With a loud clear of Amon’s throat, the atmosphere instantly turned clear and cold once again.

“Anyway, this is my partner and senior, Kureo Mado.” Amon said, a hint of pride in his voice as he introduced the ghostly man. Rin’s eyes fell on the old man’s and right that instant, Rin wanted to run.

“Nice to meet you.” the old man said, looking up at Rin with a grin of a hungry zombie as he stuck out a gloved hand to the boy. Despite the anxiety and disgust boiling in Rin, the boy took Mado’s hand, giving it a good shake as he introduced himself as Erin Murakami.

There was no denying the fact that Amon’s partner was one Rin had to be extremely careful with.

Now that he had fully regained consciousness of everything around him, Rin could feel himself being analyzed. From head to toe, Kureo Mado was struggling to wriggle through Rin’s human mask and pull out the ghoul-Cheetah.

‘ _Have I heard of you before?_ ’ Rin thought, subtly analyzing Mado’s features as well. surely this man had done horrible things worthy of ghoul news.

But he was shaken out of his thoughts when Mado suddenly asked,

“Are you here for Amon?” right then, a gruesome smile lit up Mado’s face as his eyes flashed towards the bulletin board. “Or something else? Did you see a ghoul, probably?”

Rin couldn’t hide the slight uneasiness on his face. ‘ _What a thirst for killing_.’

Right then, Rin backed up from thoughts of infiltrating the CCG. With this man around right now, he didn’t want to make any rash decisions. They might just be his last.

“I just wanted to talk to your partner.” Rin said then quickly froze up again.

‘ _What exactly do I want to talk to him about??_ ’ He didn’t think of that one yet.

Before him, Amon hummed, pulling up his chin and suddenly inspecting Rin with his eyes. After a while, the tall man blinked.

“Is this about my bowl?”

Rin wanted to strangle himself…no, he wanted to strangle Amon too. After all those weeks, he still hasn’t even taken a second glance at the paper Amon gave him. He can’t even remember where it was anymore.

‘ _Get over the damn bowl already._ ’ He wanted to say but all he could do was sheepishly turn his head away.

As if expecting it, Amon said, “You still don’t have it, do you?” his eyes filled with a familiar disappointed expectance that Rin sourly hated.

“Shut up, I was busy.” Rin quickly hissed back, rubbing the back of his neck and impatiently tapping at the floor. “That’s why I’m here, you know.”

Amon raised a thick brow, tilting his head to the side like a confused deer. Rin felt his ears heat up a bit.

‘ _I want to hit you, damn it, what’s with that face?_ ’ Amon never showed that side of himself when they were hunting down Mamoru.

“I lost the paper you gave me. So I don’t know where to get the bowl anymore.” Rin lied. Well, it probably wasn’t. After all, he didn’t know where he had stashed the thing anymore.

“Why didn’t you just call?”

“I hadn’t put your number in my phone yet.”

Amon flashed a slightly irritated look then quickly sighed, rubbing the back of his head and looking troubled for a moment.

“Honestly, you’re a little troublesome, aren’t you…” he muttered under his breath. Rin felt the annoyance pulsing in his head.

Rin wanted so badly to just let his kagune whip out and slice both Amon’s and Mado’s heads off but the after effects would be too troublesome. He’d catch hell from Anteiku people and he’d be chased down by Doves again. Held down on a leash, Rin simply grinded his teeth and glared at Amon.

“Shut up.”

Amon was about to open his mouth again but Kureo suddenly called the taller man, easily gaining his attention.

“I’ll be in my office.” Mado said, “You can go with your friend to get that bowl.” Then, he looked back at Rin and unexpectedly, he snickered, flashing a sly look at Rin.

“So you’re that little one who went home with Amon?”

With the way the old man said it, Rin felt his cheeks heating up again before the memory of himself lying half naked on Amon’s bed flashed in Rin’s mind.

For once, the boy was left speechless and before he could even think of something else other than ‘shut up’, Mado was already halfway to the CCG building, waving a goodbye to the duo.

“That guy’s weird.” Rin said, feeling a cold sweat run down his spine.

“A bit.” Amon replied, his cheeks red as well. a second later, he huffed and looked back at Rin, his eyes suddenly filled with a strange determination.

“Alright, since you’re here now, let’s go to the market.” Amon said, “We’re getting that bowl.”

Rin was about to fight but realized, he himself let this all happen. Though he had some money today and had nothing scheduled, he still didn’t want to go get a bowl with this muscle mass.

With Amon’s back turned to Rin and his feet already heading down the street, Rin gave away a deep sigh and hesitantly followed the Dove.

* * *

“Oi! Will you focus?!”

Rin didn’t even want to turn to Amon or peel himself away from the store front. Right before him, a tube of black and white fur looked up at Rin, its little nose vigorously wiggling along with its whiskers. The guinea pig scuttled through the wood shavings in its green cage. Though it wasn’t doing much, Rin couldn’t take his eyes away.

Amon was saying something about how close they were to the market already but Rin wasn’t listening and simply waved the man away.

He never told anyone about it before, but Rin was much too in love with guinea pigs. They never had one when he was a child because Jin was afraid of rats and anything related to them and Rin never bought one because he thought he couldn’t ever take care of another living thing. But now, he desperately wanted to rush into the store and buy the one sitting before him and simply staring up at his face.

“Hey! Erin!” Amon shouted. This time, Rin turned and Amon froze to see the pout in his face.

“What?” though the question came out in a growl, his expression wasn’t in line with the tone.

Amon seemed to be hesitating to open his mouth but right when he was about to, a man’s scream shot through the air.

Amon whipped his head back and was met with the sight of people in a sea of fright. Right in the middle of the street, a man wearing a black suit and a blue tie stood, his eyes a familiar pulsing red and black. On his back, thin branches of red pulsed like angry snakes, snapping and striking at any human who got too close.

Rin stared, wide eyed. An attack in broad daylight? He couldn’t decide whether it was gutsy, crazy, or just plain stupid.

“A Ghoul?!” Amon exclaimed and instantly ran to the scene.

Shocked, Rin called out to Amon but he was already lost in the sea of people. At first, Rin simply stood before the store front, staring at Amon’s back and the look of determination and anger on his face.

Seeing another ghoul right this moment, in the middle of the day was the biggest worry for Rin. Once the ghoul smells his scent, he’d most probably yell at Rin to kill Amon and Rin’s cover would be blown. Amon wouldn’t be the only one to know, all the people around them would know who he was and he’d have to disappear once again.

Despite all this, Rin couldn’t move his legs at all and kept his eyes on the ukaku user rampaging in the middle of the street, turning over cars and smashing through windows with his kagune.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Rin’s feet pushed at the ground and he found himself running right after Amon.


	11. An Unusual Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for a moment, bear with this author's words. ^_^
> 
> For the few people who have been reading this fanfic, THANK YOU SO MUCH. You guys should know that your comments keep me going. Reading them is always more than enough to make me smile and feel better after a long day of contemplating the few days I have left before school starts again. (yes, so less time to write AGAIN, I cry ;_;)
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to you guys!! 
> 
> And, if you guys also see any mistakes in my writing or info that's wrong, please tell me so I can edit it. (as much as possible, I want this fic to be awesome and informative like how deep should cuts be to kill a person???)
> 
> Okay, enough from me. ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!!!

Humans screamed, their shouts ringing past Rin’s ears as he grunted, shoving past the torrent of humans trying to scurry away from the rampaging ghoul’s snake-like kagune whipping out and smashing through the forest of buildings and leaving thick, deep scars in its wake.

“AMON!” Rin shouted, catching a glimpse of the ghoul investigator’s white coat.

“GET AWAY, ERIN!”

Rin flinched at that. Hearing the way Amon said it, it simply wakened the annoyance he had against the Dove the first time they met and agreed on a truce. The last time he heard that sentence, he was being addressed as merely ‘ghoul’ and Amon was trying to keep Rin away with his quinque all the while holding a mean grimace on his face.

‘ _Bastard_.’ Rin growled to himself, feeling the blood in his veins pulsing with heat as he fought against the crowd of people shoving past him like a landslide tumbling against an immovable tree.

Though the only thought screaming through his head was that he should get away, Rin’s body didn’t listen.

He knew that it was probably going to end badly with the rampaging ghoul realizing he was Cheetah and screaming Rin’s true identity into the world. After hearing the truth, Amon would get ridiculously angry before he starts to try and kill Rin for tricking him once again, putting the young ghoul first before the rampaging one.

He knew all that and he was inwardly kicking himself for not listening to his cautious self for once but another thought came to his mind, tugging wildly at his brain and waking the grinning monster inside him.

Until the right time comes, Amon will not and cannot be harmed by anything else.

 ‘ _I’ll be the one to kill Amon Koutarou_.’ Rin felt his eyes darken as he easily dodged a flying car tire, thinking about when the time to kill the Dove would finally come.

Once again, Rin heard Amon shout his alias name, “Get the hell away from here, Erin!”

Feeling annoyed, Rin was about to shout back a rude name to the Dove when a rustic cracking sound burst through the air along with the sound of glass breaking. The air suddenly changed over Rin’s head and he noticed a shadow pooling largely around him.

Pulling his head up, his eyes widened at the sight of a blue car with its mid-section pressed like a flattened can. And it was falling right towards him.

“Watch out, kid!” a stranger yelled.

For a moment, everything worked in slow motion and Rin felt his kagune scratching madly at the skin on his lower back but he fought against it. In broad daylight, showing his kagune was a troublesome sentence especially with Amon and his Doujima hanging around.

‘ _Run, dumbass_!’

At the last second, the muscles in his legs slid together as he readied a jump to the right but before he could even move, a flash of bright red slashed before his eyes and slammed against the car. With a loud crash, the vehicle was sent tumbling to the left, the sound of glass and metal clanging at the pavement and making Rin cringe as he watched the broken car roll over the street.

“Are you alright?!”

Whipping his head up, Rin only noticed Amon standing right before him, his baseball bat-like quinque-Doujima crackling with a blood red hue next to him. Amon stared wide eyed at Rin, panting with an expression of fear and shock that Rin was too unfamiliar with.

Rin only noticed that he was simply staring at Amon once the ghoul investigator shouted “ **ERIN!** ” with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

As if waking himself from a trance, Rin blinked and stiffly, gave a hard nod. Assured the boy was fine, Amon turned his back on Rin, facing the ghoul crying and wailing before them, then he stiffened. Right before the adult ghoul was another man-a human wearing a crisp suit and tie but had his brown hair neatly smoothed back. He stared at the adult ghoul with frightened eyes, paralyzed with fear.

“IT DOESN’T MATTER ANYMORE.”  The ghoul whined loudly, “I’LL KILL YOU, I DON’T CARE!!!”

Staring at the ghoul, Rin felt a sudden surge of pity for the man. The rampaging ghoul was wearing a black suit and tie-old and worn out. Rin knit his brows in slight thought.

‘ _Was he going for a job interview?_ ’

“IF YOU WON’T GIVE ME THE JOB, I’LL KILL YOU AND EAT YOUR TINY DI-“

Rin didn’t need to listen to the end of the sentence anymore, nor did he want to.

“Erin,” Amon called once again. Rin looked up at him and was about to open his mouth and exasperatedly repeat the usual line worried saviors say but Amon cut him off, beating him to it.

“Get out of here now.” Amon said, his tone strangely serene and quiet now. Raising his quinque to his shoulder, Rin watched the red veins gleam and glow with a bright red around Doujima.

Raising a lazy brow, Rin lazily rolled his eyes and with calm determination and annoyance, stood right next the ghoul investigator. Amon took a double take at Rin, the first glance filled with shock before a look of definite annoyance.

Before the muscle man could scream any profanities or lectures, the sound of glass breaking and steel crackling ripped through the air. Amon and Rin whipped their heads up to the sound and quickly jumped out of the way, separating from each other and tumbling at each side of the car flattened into a plate of broken steel.

“GET LOST!!!” screamed the rampaging ghoul, sending glares to both Rin and Amon with a feral growl curled on his mouth. On his back, his snake like ukaku impatiently swung at the air, the sight of red cracking like branches in the air.

His red eyes gleaming, the adult ghoul took his gaze back to the human before hungrily licking the corner of his mouth. Both Amon and Rin stood frozen, their shoulders tense. While Amon was probably thinking of a plan to take away the human whom at the moment was shaking tremors, feebly wiggling away from the raging ghoul, Rin was concocting plan B.

‘ _Should I just kill the guy?_ ’ he thought, staring at the adult ghoul and weighing his chances against an ukaku type.

Taking a glance at Amon and seeing the strange frustration clear on his face, Rin was starting to think that his plan B was a good idea. He was indeed much faster than Amon, and his kagune wasn’t even necessary to kill the ghoul.

His eyes darkening, Rin felt the glare grow on his face as he stared at the angry ghoul trying to intimidate him with his ukaku slithering though the air behind his head.

‘ _All I need is a good hold around his neck_.’

“Erin, get out of here.” Amon whispered in a growl.

“No.”

“CAN YOU NOT HEA-“

“You’re louder than a goddamn truck. Of course I can fucking hear you.”

Amon froze, the look of wide shock clear in his onyx eyes and utterly priceless to Rin. Despite feeling annoyed that he had to shout, Rin was actually enjoying himself. With all the amusing and new expressions Amon was exposing to Rin, the boy couldn’t just leave now and end all the fun. The young ghoul rolled his eyes, trying not to let the shaky grin spread on his face.

“I’m not leaving you here.”

“Are you insane?!” Amon screamed back, swiping his doujima in the air between him and Rin, missing the boy’s arm by a mere inch. The boy flashed him an irritated look though still careful not to have the same annoyed expression he had when he was Cheetah. Seeing the look, Amon let his eyes subtly widen with shock and disbelief, never did he think that the boy would be so stubborn.

“You can’t fight off a ghoul!” Amon yelled, “You don’t even have a quinque!”

Rin wanted to just ignore Amon now, the dove was still yelling like an angry child but Rin couldn’t even understand what he was saying anymore. Keeping his eyes on the ghoul before him, Rin instantly found the vital spots he had to hit. Feeling the familiar tremor running excitedly up and down his spine, Rin kept the shaky grin on his face before he burst into a sprint, his eyes on the single opponent he had.

* * *

 

He grunted, stumbling back and almost falling on his backside. There was a thin trail of blood running down from an open cut on Rin’s right shoulder. The boy kept a shaky hand on it, keeping pressure as he glared hard at the ukaku ghoul still standing before them, not even looking as tired as Rin and Amon.

The ghoul investigator, as bloodied and exhausted as Rin kept on a fighting façade. Though Rin could see that the muscles in his arms were shaking, Amon still had the remarkable strength to keep his baseball bat-like quinque up in the air.

“I told you to just leave already.” Amon panted from next to Rin. The boy could barely hear the investigator’s calm words.

The edge of Rin’s mouth twitched as he felt the tremulous flow of red hot anger in his veins. His lower back was itching, hot and ready to let his kagune burst through and rip apart the ghoul who sliced through the muscle over his clavicle, trying to go for a bloody kill. Obviously, Rin thought, the ghoul was going for the neck arteries. If it weren’t for Rin’s bullet reflexes, he would be dead right now.

 Rin was able to land a few hits, of course…but for the first time in his fights, Rin’s plan had backfired.

Staring at the bruises Rin was able to leave on the ghoul’s neck and watching the thin trail of blood run from the ghoul’s nose, the young ghoul felt the slight redness on his cheeks.

He didn’t think it would just piss the adult ghoul off.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY.” the ghoul hissed, his ukaku suddenly brightening and pulsing angrily while his hands shook. “I just wanted a job…but that filthy little human thought I wasn’t enough.” His entire self shaking now, the ghoul’s eyes gleamed with hunger and hatred. Specifically at Rin.

“Are you thinking the same thing too… _you little brat_?”

Rin felt the glare harden on his face, his eyes got hotter and Rin gave all of his energy not to let the white in his eyes turn midnight with the gruesome thoughts running through his mind.

How glorious it would be to watch the ghoul’s blood spill over the concrete, to hear this ghoul beg for mercy.

‘ _I’d love to see Amon’s face if I kill this little fuck_.’

With a long huff, Rin pulled his head back up, easily swiping away half of the anger and blood lust he was feeling for the ghoul.

‘ _Control yourself_.’ A voice cooed in his head.

“Erin, you’ve saved the civilian,’ Amon said and Rin recalled the human in the crisp suit, shuddering and looking ready to vomit as Rin shoved him away from the scene, yelling at him to just leave.

“Leave, now.” Amon panted, turning to Rin now. Rin glanced at him from the corner of his eye, feeling himself flinch at the sight of blood running down Amon’s temple. Right then, Amon took Rin by his arm and forcefully shoved him back before the sound of Amon grunting hard made Rin flinch.

The world suddenly went slack and all Rin could see was Amon’s broad back, his head hung down and his jaw tensed in pain. A thick trail of red splattered, running though the air just above Rin’s head. Just ahead, the ghoul in the suit grinned widely, a gruesome smile on his pale face.

“I CAUGHT A DOVE!!”

Quick on his feet, Rin caught Amon, his slender arms threading under Amon’s thicker ones. Catching the man’s weight, Rin let the dove’s back fall against his chest. At the contact of Amon’s slackened body, a sudden red hot feeling burst through Rin’s entirety, flaming hot and threatening to let his kagune burst through skin while his chest thumped like a wild bird.

The ghoul laughed loudly into the air, cackling like a madman with his kagune pulsing just as excitedly.

 “SEE?!! I CAN DO STUFF!! I-“

The man froze and the red in his kagune instantly stopped before bursting into miniscule particles, his head which was once connected to his body had flown off high into the air, leaving a gruesome and bloody wreck that was his neck.

Rin’s eyes were dark, wide with a rage that threatened to let his kagune burst through his skin.

“I killed a ghoul.” Rin muttered with a deadly quiet in his voice.

His hand effortlessly holding the thick steel handle, Doujima glowed powerfully in Rin’s hand, pulsing and crackling bright red that gleamed under a thicker and shinier liquid that Rin was greatly familiar with. It ran down doujima’s length, dripping unto Rin’s hand and he silently reveled at the feeling, staring at the red liquid with a half lidded stare.

It’s been much too long since he had a kill.

The ghoul’s corpse went slack and suddenly fell, toppling to the ground and rolling over the pavement to let the blood from the neck spill before Rin’s feet.

The murmurs growing around Rin were suddenly loud in his ears. There was an annoying ringing too and only now did the young ghoul notice his vision was slightly blurring.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and replaced his hand over the cut running shallowly through the muscle above his right clavicle. The skin around the cut was slippery now, covered in thick warmth. Though he’d been wounded many times, Rin knew that he had to move carefully. The cut was too close to one of his arteries. Any closer and he could burst a vein and spurt into a bloody death.

Carefully breathing, Rin dropped the quinque, hearing the loud clank of steel on the pavement as he whirled to the dove lying still behind him. The first thing Rin saw was the diagonal trail of blood running from Amon’s left shoulder to the right side of his waist. His clothes ripped, Rin saw the bloody gleam of the investigator’s exposed muscle.  

All too suddenly, people were swarming them but Rin couldn’t take his eyes off Amon and the way the dove’s eyes had closed shut, long and thick dark lashes hiding his lower lids. Rin looked at his chest, watching it rise up and down…up….then down.

Like a glass vial, Rin felt himself fill up with dread.

Did he just kill Amon Koutarou?

Right then, a human rushed to Amon. Rin didn’t know who he was but the man placed a hand on the ghoul investigator and Rin puzzled at the sudden hatred that burst through his head like a hammer.

“Get off him.” Rin growled, easily gaining everyone’s attention and making the humans around him freeze up in fear of the suddenly angry boy.

“B-But he’s bleeding!” the human yelled, keeping a guarding hand atop Amon’s chest, “Look at this cut! He needs help now!”

The boy had doujima in his hands again, easily shifting it back into its suitcase and almost laughing at the people who flinched away at the sight of him the weapon.

“I’m gonna give it to him.” Rin replied, moving towards Amon and fighting against the horrible lightness of his own feet, “Out of the way.”

Ignoring the man’s cries of dispute, Rin leaned down, groaning and wincing when he accidentally craned his neck and felt the blood run down like a river from his cut. Swatting away concerned hands that reached out to help him, Rin gritted his teeth and folded his knees, taking Amon’s arm then pulling it over his shoulders. Rallying his remaining strength, Rin pulled Amon up and instantly felt his entire self shake at the human’s impressive weight.

Despite the quick gasps he took for breath, Rin leaned down and swiped the quinque case into his right hand. Wrapping his right arm around Amon’s waist, he pulled up the investigator to steady himself.

His own blood had been dripping on the pavement non-stop now. Amazingly, Rin hadn’t fainted yet.

“Stop this! You’ll bleed to death!!” a girl human cried while all the other humans simply watched, some of them talking on their phones and probably calling ambulances. It wasn’t a good thing for Rin.

He was a ghoul. The last thing he needs is a human doctor seeing his kakuhou and the sudden repair of his skin. Going to the hospital was out of the question.

It would happen soon but not at this moment. Rin once again felt the warmth frightfully trickle down his shoulder. ‘ _Definitely not too soon._ ’

He needed to get home.

Rin cursed and as quick as his shaky legs could, he finally shoved past the dumbfounded crowd, taking long legged strides to his own house with an unconscious and bleeding ghoul investigator’s arm around his shoulders.

 

Luckily enough, Rin’s condo complex was close. Ignoring the looks of shock and gasps people at the street were sending his way, Rin panted, breathing raggedly as he started jogging, groaning against Amon’s heavy weight.

“Amon.” Rin called in a wheeze, slightly turning his head only to be met with the tip’s of Amon’s black hair. Pulling his head down, Rin couldn’t even see the bigger man’s eyes.

Suddenly, Rin stumbled. Gasping, he almost fell to the ground and almost let Amon fall off his shoulders. Staring at the pavement as his chest heaved; begging for air, Rin watched his own blood drip continuously unto the smooth road.

“Amon.” He called again, louder this time. Still, no reaction.

‘ _Faster_!’

The boy looked up and saw the roof of his house. Just a few more steps and he could get himself bandaged up. With a grit of his teeth and a loud scream of profanities, Rin started into a mad sprint, heading right for his house.

After taking the steps two at a time, Rin finally got to his house, the fatigue finally hitting him like an anvil once he shoved the key into the doorknob and pushed open his door.

Taking one step over the doorway, Rin loudly groaned and let his knees give away before he fell to the floor, knees slamming hard against the matted floor. Before Amon could fall off, Rin pulled at the man’s weight and carefully placed him on the floor. Annoyed by its weight in his hands, Rin threw Amon’s case, flinging it across the room and unperturbed by the slam against the floor.

With a loud and deep gasp, Rin finally fell right next to Amon, panting hard and wheezing in pain. His neck and shoulders were still sticky and hot with blood. Putting a hand against his wound, the blood from his wound was dripping like the liquid inside an IV bag.

Turning a head to Amon, Rin’s arm snapped out and he reached for the pulse at his neck. Feeling the light thump against his fingertips, Rin forced himself back up, blinking away the doubling of his vision as he half jogged through his short hallway.

He cursed loudly once again, stumbling to his room to get the bandages.

After wrapping his shoulder up and the rest of his cuts first, he stumbled back to Amon with a first aid kit in his arms, feeling the tips of his black hair sticking to his cheeks before he fell before Amon, he quickly ripped apart the dove’s shirt and exposing the bloody mess that was his torso. Looking closer, the cuts actually weren’t deep enough to kill.

Though there was a strange, shaky worry bubbling quietly in Rin, he was confident he could do just as well as a human doctor. He didn’t spend his entire life ignoring his father’s teachings after all.

Opening the kit, Rin started on closing Amon’s gruesome cuts.

* * *

 

“...in…Rin…”

At first, he thought it was his brother calling his name. Rin knit his brows then swallowed. He winced right after, feeling the stab of pain pulse at his shoulder.

“Erin.”

Rin groaned this time and forced his eyes open. Squinting at the brightness of his ceiling light, Rin saw the silhouette of a man, short haired with an oval shaped face.

‘ _Thick brows…_ ’

After a while, his vision cleared and his eyes fell upon Amon’s onyx ones. They were staring determinedly at Rin, the thick brows above them knit hard together. Rin suddenly felt Amon’s hand over his forehead, the man’s breath strangely sweet smelling and warm against Rin’s cheeks.

“You don’t have a fever…” Amon trailed off. Rin blinked twice, carefully pulling himself up to his elbows and looked up at the ghoul investigator. Rin’s shoulders stiffened and he stared at Amon who thoughtfully touched the bandages wrapped around his thick chest.

The pulse in Rin’s neck was throbbing nervously. ‘ _Why did I bring this idiot here?_ ’

It seemed like a good idea when he was being flocked by the mass of humans. Now, he wasn’t so sure that bringing a ghoul investigator into his house was good idea. Rin quickly scoured his memory. He was sure he didn’t have any skeletons in the closet. Literally, that is.

“You alright?” Amon asked and Rin realized he had been staring at Amon’s bare chest for a while now. Under the slightly bloodied bandages Rin had fastidiously applied, the young ghoul was shocked at how pronounced the human’s muscles were.

“Erin.” Rin snapped his eyes up to Amon, feeling annoyed at himself and tried to keep the hotness out of his face.

The ghoul investigator knit his brows then looked around, studying his surroundings as he pulled the blankets off himself, ready to get up and explore the place. Rin lifted a brow at him, feeling the pulse of annoyance on his temple.

“Quit moving, damn it. Don’t you have any clue as to how long I stitched you up?” Rin growled, finally unable to repress his annoyance for the investigator who simply stared back in comic surprise at the smaller boy.

“If your wounds open up again, I won’t help you anymore.” Rin said then stubbornly whipped his head away before muttering, “You used up all my bandages.”

 The boy wanted to walk away and get a drink of water just to get away from the investigator he was starting to get annoyed of once again, but he wanted more to let his wound repair. Other than that, Rin was covered in a nice blanket at the moment and there was no chance he would let himself lose to Amon. If he ever left the investigator’s side now, he thought it meant he was admitting defeat.

There was a silence at first, and Rin could feel Amon’s stare on the side of his face.

“Idiot.”  he heard Amon mutter.

Whipping his head to the man, Rin let the glare on his face manifest before he growled, “What?”

Stubbornly, Amon straightened himself as if he were about to dive straight into a heated debate then raised an arrogant chin. “You didn’t have to help me. I had a plan in mind already.”

Rin couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

 “If you hadn’t interfered, you wouldn’t have been wounded and neither would I. You weren’t even supposed to be there, you’re a civilian.”

Rin felt the familiar pang of anger bubbling deeply in his stomach. ‘ _This bastard_.’ after a good hard stare, Rin finally spoke his mind, speaking with great slowness as if he was conversing with a toddler.

“Are you seriously lecturing me after I just saved your life?”

“I told you to leave and you didn’t listen. Just how reckless are you?” It was as if Amon didn’t hear a single word Rin just said.

Back then, Rin would have snapped out his kagune and watched as his victim’s body fell limp with their eyes gouged out. But now, with sheer willpower and stubbornness against his inner demon, Rin was struggling to keep his kagune in place.

‘ _Must not kill_.’ Then he reminded himself of his plan for Amon. After experiencing the side of Amon that hated ghouls, it shocked Rin to the core to see how soft he could be around humans, how kind he was.

It made Rin sick and heavily annoyed. Why was he so kind to the alias Erin? He had to know that. Plus, he went through so much trouble today just to keep the investigator alive.

‘ _Well, he’s still a brat_.’ Rin thought, Amon’s stubborn and annoying lecture just now echoing in his head.

Oblivious of Rin’s thoughts, Amon carefully pulled himself out of the futon Rin placed him in (before he out right fainted next to him) then wordlessly stood, carefully stretching his back muscles by bunching up his shoulders. Instantly, Rin groaned, rolling his eyes so hard, his head threatened to roll as well.

“I just told you to quit moving, goddamn it, Amon.” Rin hissed, utterly exhausted of the investigator’s incapability to listen.

“I am fine.” Amon insistently said with an exasperated knit of his brows as he stared down at Rin. The boy raised a skeptic brow then carefully, he stood.

Moving slowly towards the taller man, Rin let his own eyes dig into Amon’s. The latter stared back, suddenly looking as if he was searching for something and could find it in Rin’s dark brown orbs. Right before Amon could ask what Rin was doing, the boy shot out his arm in a flash and landed a heavy blow to Amon’s wounded side. Amon instantly folded with a heavy grunt before he stumbled back, wincing and gasping. His head whipped up and with a glare, he growled at Rin,

“What the fuck?”

Rin raised a thick brow in return, trying not to laugh. “I’m supposed to say that.” He replied, “You’re still not well. I’m not letting you back out there with fresh wounds. I stitched you up and bandaged you but I don’t have any ointments.” As he said all this, Rin was moving around the house, taking his wallet then his keys.

Before Amon could say anything else, Rin was already halfway out the door. “Stay here and wait for me.” he said before slamming the door shut.

* * *

 

Walking down the street with the pharmacy in mind, Rin was staring hard at the pavement and thinking of what he would now do with Amon.

‘ _I have a ghoul investigator in my house. And I helped him kill a ghoul. With a quinque._ ’ He’s killed many. But it was the first time he actually used a quinque. Remembering the sensation of the steel on his hands, the warmth of doujima’s larger end pulsing with red, Rin clenched his fist before opening it again. Everything was too strange today.

For a second, Rin wanted to stop walking and think straight. In the back of his head, the more gruesome and merciless voice of Cheetah whispered in his ear.

‘ _Why don’t you kill him now_?’

He had seen enough of Amon’s flip personality. He’s seen him nice and helpful. He’s seen him flustered and stubborn. There was no need to keep him around, especially since he’s troubled Rin so much now. And there was something else. Another reason as to why Amon had to leave Rin’s house but the boy couldn’t put his finger on it.

The moment his brows knit together in slight frustration, it hit him like a rock.

‘ _What if he finds Jin’s picture?_ ’

At the thought of Jin’s face smiling lazily up at Amon as the investigator held up the photo, Rin felt his eyes widen before he finally stopped in the middle of the street. It’s been a long time since he’s felt the need to really run away and disappear again. Now, he was feeling it once more-The itching need to turn into someone else.

He stared hard at the road, ignoring the stares of people as they passed by him, puzzling about why the bandaged boy was glaring at the road.

Where was Jin’s picture? Where had he left it? Ever since after his talk with Rize, he just knows he stashed Jin’s photo somewhere.

‘ _Go back_.’

He felt the coldness rising on his back, slithering like a snake. Jin had a mask as a ghoul, of course, but there were very few ghouls who had the same hair color as Jin and surely…surely, at least one ghoul investigator can figure out that Ishikawa Jin was actually a ghoul and that Murakami Erin was related to him.

Instantly, Rin’s thoughts went into overdrive and the last thing the boy could see was the sunken, skull like face of Amon’s partner grinning up at him. The man was dangerous and Rin could feel it prickling against his neck-how easily the man follows his instincts for finding ghouls.

Nothing was more important than Rin’s identity. If Amon finds out everything now, his plans would be foiled and the most annoying thing to Rin was having his plans destroyed right in the middle of it happening.

Right as he was about to turn around and rush back home, he stopped his breath to see a familiar purple haired girl. Though Rin could only see Touka’s single eye, the glare was hard on her face as a frightening grimace curled on her lips. Right next to her with his single exposed eye shifting nervously between Rin and Touka, Kaneki was hugging a paper bag filled with coffee bags.

“Ah, Ri-“

The boy with the eye patch cleared his throat, flinching as he did, “I mean, Erin…” Though they weren’t close, Kaneki’s single white eye patch was a strangely soothing sight for Rin amidst the angry gangster girl standing before him.

Right when Rin thought he was going to start another fist fight with the girl, Touka unleashed a loud, echoing shout that simply made him jump in his skin.

Embarrassed, the boy felt his cheeks redden.

“YOU FUCKING LITTLE BASTARD!!” Touka screeched, grabbing Rin by the collar of his shirt and violently shaking him back and forth like a ragdoll. In rapid fire, Touka screamed, “WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN? YOU DON’T GO TO WORK, THE OLD MAN ORDERS US AROUND TO LOOK FOR YOU AND YOU APPEAR WOUNDED LIKE A FUCKIN’ IDIOT. WHO DID YOU KILL NOW, HUH? HUH?!!!”

“AH! Touka!” Kaneki yelled, pointing desperately at Rin’s shoulder as he tried to pry Touka’s hands off the taller ghoul, “Blood!”

Rin had no chance to stop the cut on his shoulder from bleeding once again. Seeing the light trail of blood on her thumb, Touka froze, blinking before she looked down at the redness on her hand. Feeling a sudden flare of annoyance, Rin slapped Touka’s hand away, placing his own back to his once again open wound. Glancing down, he frowned. His favorite shirt was ruined now.

“Goddamn it, Kirishima.” Rin growled, trying not to move his neck anymore.

Touka stared at Rin. At first, the boy thought she looked worried with her brows pulled up in concern and a horrified look on her face. She _was_ worried. But not for Rin.

They’ve been working together long enough for Rin to understand how important the safety of Anteiku is for her.

“What did you do?” she asked, her voice low and her fist shaking with what seemed like anger.

Rin stared back at the girl in disbelief, feeling his jaw slide and the glare on his face rise. It was unbelievable for him to be experiencing all this doubt. After helping Amon, weaponless and threatening the safety of his own life for a mere human, Rin was debating with himself whether or not he should go on a killing spree and finally leave the 20th ward.

The boy gritted his teeth though. He would regret leaving Jin’s mystery behind.

Swallowing the fuming anger and ignoring the hotness rising under his skin, Rin cooled his glare and simply turned his head away from them.

“Nothing you should worry about.” He quietly replied. Before Touka could ask anymore, the boy turned his back to the duo, taking himself back to the task at hand.

“I’ll go to work tomorrow.”

He was about turn a corner when Touka yelled,

“Was this about Jin?!”

Beside Touka, Kaneki restrained a gasp and stuttered over the girl’s name, weakly tugging at her long sleeves and practically begging her to stop glaring at the ghoul who had turned his back to them.

Slowly, Rin turned his head. From the corner of his eye, Rin shot a dark glare at both of them, feeling his blood boiling hotly under the skin and the wound on his shoulder pulsing with a delicious pain.

“Don’t fucking say his name so causally, you piece of shit.” He hissed. Though he wasn’t opening his mouth much, both ghouls heard him as if he was speaking right next to their ears.

Looking as if he’d just slapped her in the face, Touka let her eyes go wide before she let the glare go dark on her face as she hissed,

“What the fuck did you say?”

Taking a step, Kaneki quickly grabbed her by the arm, keeping her next to him by sheer willpower and a few soothing words. The eye patched ghoul was about to say something more but before he could, Rin turned his head and simply stomped away, leaving the two ghouls to stare at his back.

* * *

 

“I’m back.” Rin loudly said, taking off his shoes and tossing them to the side. In his hand was a small plastic bag with a circular container inside.

The ointment wasn’t cheap. But Rin was slightly thankful for that. Having no money, he’s got a good excuse as to why he’d be unable to buy some disgusting human food.

Looking up, he saw the investigator in the middle of his sitting room, his feet tucked neatly under his thighs as he sat straight atop the tiny red pillow with his arms folded before his chest.

Bringing his gaze towards the tiny pillow Amon was trying to fit himself into, Rin cracked a tiny smile before turning his head away and his chuckle with a cough.

“I only waited until you got back but I’ll be leaving now.” Amon suddenly said, oblivious of Rin’s amusement. Pulling up from his seat, Amon started to look around the room once more. After a while, the investigator pulled his brows together in slight frustration. He was staring at the suitcase idly sitting at the corner of the room.

Rin followed his gaze. Seeing the suitcase, he frowned, suddenly feeling annoyed.

Immediately, Rin thought that proper repayment was necessary after all the trouble he went though for the human.

‘ _I almost killed myself for you_.’ For Rin, that was speaking volumes and he was definitely not used to it. Never did he risk his life. For someone else, that is. Though he never had to think about sacrificing himself to save Jin, for his brother was probably as strong as a whole army of ghouls, self sacrifice barley made its way into the boy’s vocabulary.

It certainly wasn’t needed for Amon. It wasn’t supposed to be. Studying the human, Rin was also slightly struck with how fast he seemed to be recovering. Though the wound wasn’t horrible and death inducing, most humans would still be lying in bed, wincing. Yet, here the dove was, standing tall and not even repressing breaths that could slightly re-open his stitches.

“Did you use my quinque?” Amon suddenly asked as he turned to Rin, looking at the boy as if he had encountered a new math problem he didn’t have an equation for.

Rin raised a brow at that. “How do you think you got out of there in one piece?” Rin asked, not even bothering to hide the contempt in his voice, “Surely even you can’t fight unconscious.”

Rin expected a frown and narrowed eyes below the weird brows, but Amon simply stared at Rin as he stood with a wary amazement in his eyes. Rin was used to the wariness, he got those looks from anyone he gazed at. But flat amazement was new. Rin refused the strangely excited shudder up his spine.

When he seemed about to say something, Amon took his eyes away from Rin, his usual seriousness regained. “Where’s my coat? That ghoul must be reported.”

For a moment, Rin almost went cold with panic before he understood that Amon was talking about the ukaku ghoul. Reassuring himself, Rin carefully stood and moved towards his room,

“It’s ripped apart.” He loudly said. Halfway to his room, Amon followed like a duckling. Rin instantly felt the need to shove him back but instead, walked faster and before Amon could even take a chance to see even his futon, Rin slammed his door shut, an annoyed glare on his face.

“Stay there.” Rin said, heading to his cabinets, “I’ll get you something to wear.”

In the middle of him scouring through his clothes for something the giant would fit into, Rin heard his door click. Instantly whipping his head back, he caught sight of Amon shamelessly pushing himself halfway through the door. Before he could get any farther, Rin was instantly before the door, his palm hard against Amon’s face.

“Get. Out.” effortlessly, Rin shoved Amon out by the face and slammed the door shut, reveling the loud grunt and sound of Amon falling to the floor butt first. Returning to his wardrobe, Rin caught sight of a familiar black hoodie.

* * *

 

Amon made a sour face, his shoulders tense under the dark fabric. Rin was grinding his teeth, pulling his head down and hiding his trembling lips.

There was silence for a moment between him and Amon before, “Stop laughing, damn it.”

Rin snorted. Amon shot a deathly glare at Rin but the boy just couldn’t resist laughing at the sight of Amon Koutarou in a black hoodie a size too small for him. Even though his eyes were already averted, Rin could still clearly see the slight shadows of Amon’s abdominal muscles under the black hoodie that simply hugged the wearer.

“I’m sorry,” the apology was genuine but Rin was still shaking with laughter, completely enjoying the sight of Amon completely paralyzed and pink cheeked with embarrassment. After seeing the real hard glare Amon was stabbing into Rin, finally, he was able to control his laughter with a cough.

“I have nothing bigger.” Rin said, fighting against the urge to smile. Amon’s biceps were bulging.

He couldn’t help it. Rin burst into a loud snort-giggle before he let his head fall, his hand useless against the boyish laughter escaping his lips.

He heard Amon groan above his head before the sound of him grabbing the suitcase. “I’m leaving!” the human shouted in clear annoyance.

 _Wait_. _You shouldn’t move too much yet,_ Rin wanted to say, but the sight of black cloth and the (supposed to be) fearsome face of the tiger the too stretched against Amon’s wide back was the end of Rin’s tolerance.

After the ghoul investigator shot him a narrow eyed glare despite the embarrassment brilliant on his cheeks, Amon quickly stomped out of the house.

At the ridiculousness of the day, Rin found himself unable to even say a single word without gagging on his own giggles.


	12. Job Offer

Rin’s fingertip tapped at the tabletop.

Staring hard at the dark, polished wood, Rin still couldn’t understand what happened yesterday.

Shifting his eyes a bit, he saw the porcelain cup of black coffee sitting at the table he rested his palms against. Watching the liquid flutter when he lightly tapped the tabletop, the boy tried to shake away the memory of him laughing gleefully at a ghoul investigator.

After fighting and successfully killing a ghoul wailing about not getting a job, he took Amon Koutarou into his house and fixed the Dove up himself. Not to mention, he lent the man his clothes despite how ill-fitting they were.

Amon’s fitted figure and his angry pouting face popped into Rin’s mind again.

The boy shut his eyes, grinding down his teeth. Laughing right now wasn’t the best idea.

Especially since Touka had been eyeing him since the moment he stepped into Anteiku. At first moment he woke up, Rin thought about skipping work again and just wanted to wait until he got fired. Admittedly, he didn’t want to confront Touka.

In the back of his mind, the situation would either result in Rin hating Touka even more and cussing at her face or Rin hating Touka so much, he’d end up destroying Anteiku.

But even when he decided it was best to just leave and earn some money, the boy wasn’t ready for the strangeness of the day.

Rin got into Anteiku four hours ago.

He was wearing his usual outfit-black jeans, a white sleeveless top underneath a black jacket, and he had the same messy hairstyle that simply had him stereotyped as the usual young boy in a band. As usual, he was an hour late. But everyone in the café noticed something different about him.

Touka was the first to notice and Rin hadn’t realized that, unlike the usual frown he wore, the corner of his lips had curled upwards. His eyes were bright underneath thick brows and his skin wasn’t as pale and lifeless as it normally was.

Rin realized however, the look of utter fright on Touka’s face as he passed her. Usually he wouldn’t mind the look of fear but after their heated exchange in the street yesterday, he expected her to keep from starting eye contact and make sure he never uttered a word near her.

The boy raised a brow at the girl, challenging. Then finally asked, “What?”

Shuddering for a moment, the purple haired girl muttered “Creep.” under her breath before she quickly moved away with her shoulders protectively bunched up.

Rin blinked, watching her scurry away while shooting shifty glances over her shoulder now and again. It was an unexpected reaction towards him. He expected the girl to glare at him then throw a punch the moment she saw him.

Right then, someone tapped Rin’s shoulder. Turning, he was met with Kaneki. Whose face instantly went from worried to shocked and amazed. Now _that_ worried Rin.

“Ah, Rin, did something happen?” Kaneki asked, sounding hopeful and his face filled with a sudden and subtle happiness for Rin.

It was a sickly sight to the boy. Quickly enough, Rin avoided everyone after that, losing the “smile” people kept staring at.

Nevertheless, he continued with the everyday routine. Unusually, Anteiku had a strange surge of customers and Rin had to force himself to always give away a dainty smile to the customers. He didn’t enjoy the predicament. At one instance, he actually almost got into a fight with a male customer.

‘Stop smiling at my girlfriend.’ The customer growled before his lady friend shot a troubled glance toward him then quickly apologized to Rin.

Rin never expected more from a human. The way the guy’s brows scrunched up together was actually a natural response for Rin. He’d probably get annoyed with someone who kept smiling at his partner as well. But it still pissed him off.

After clearing up the situation with a civility that shocked Touka and even Yoshimura who was quietly polishing a china cup, Rin retreated into the kitchen where he cussed his life away. Saying, “This is fuckin’ annoying.” again and again.

Kaneki was with him at that time and was simply shifting away in fear of the annoyed ghoul, not even trying to console his co-worker. It was obvious that Rin’s supposed good mood only lasted for so long so Kaneki didn’t bother to do or say anything, probably afraid that Rin would lash out at him instead of the chair the black haired ghoul was quietly kicking.

Yoshimura was the only one who talked to him at this point.

“Usually our customers are quite kind.” He said, wiping the porcelain cups now. It was annoying to Rin though. The old man kept wiping the tableware clean with such serenity as if nothing was wrong, Rin had to fight past the urge to steal the cup from him and throw it out the window.

“Just ignore it. Not every human is as bad as that one.” The old man finished with the usual kind smile. Rin didn’t say anything in reply and simply nodded a single, hard nod with gritted teeth. In the back of his head however, Rin thought,

‘ _But a lot of humans are like that one_.’

* * *

 

Currently, Rin was sitting at one of the tables, already out of his uniform and one again wearing his black jeans and white shirt, staring at the wooden floor and simply breathing in the scent of coffee wafting up from the cup he made. The scent was gentle and Rin made sure that the coffee wasn’t too tough. Propped at one of the chairs, Rin leaned the back of his head against the chair’s back, making him look up at the ceiling and simply wonder over the scent of Arabica coffee embracing his senses.

Outside, the sun was already setting, an orange circle over the darkening sky with its few strings of light beaming in through the windows and pooling over the floor.

The boy took a breath, relieved that Yoshimura trusted him with the keys. It was certainly strange for Rin to volunteer with closing up the shop but he had a lot on his mind and though he would never admit it to anyone, Anteiku’s quiet ambience and calming scent of coffee was the best relaxant for Rin.

Rin stared up at the ceiling, the silence ringing through his ears. Until now, he still couldn’t shake the fact that he had gone as far as letting a Dove into his home.

Back then, he wouldn’t be so bothered by his actions yesterday. He always thought that no matter who entered his house and found out about his secret ghoul life, there wouldn’t be any problem since he would leave for a new ward in the next hour, disappearing completely into a haystack of humanity. But now, Rin tried to swim past the thick paranoia in his head. Again and again, he thought about the short time frame he spent in his room searching for clothes that fit Amon.

In that span of time, the Dove could’ve poked around the place.

Rin scrunched his brows a bit. No way Amon could’ve found anything. Rin was more meticulous than the British royal family’s maids. If there was any solid evidence of him being a ghoul, it would simply be Jin’s photograph. Or if he had just slipped, drips of blood on his clothes.

Rin was more than sure the latter wasn’t a problem. He did his own laundry and made sure the red was either non-existent or was simply part of the cloth design. It was Jin’s photo which worried him.

Shutting his eyes, Rin groaned loudly, hearing the sound bounce off the walls. “Where are you?” he groaned.

There was a sudden knock on the door. Rin snapped his head up, feeling his blood go cold for a second before the rush of red embarrassment filled his cheeks.

‘ _Scared by someone knocking, how pathetic_.’

Getting to his feet, Rin moved towards the door then opened it, not even worried about who it was.

“Did you forget-“

 

The wide back and gray coat made Rin’s heart burst into a sprint. Before he could think of what to do, Amon Koutarou turned his head, his eyes gleaming even against the setting’s sun beaming over his head.

Rin was frozen and instantly, he could only think of one thing.

‘ _He followed me here._ ’

Rin hoped that wasn’t true. If it was….would it be a problem?

Rin couldn’t remember if he did anything ghoul-like. Well, he certainly didn’t kill anyone. The boy hasn’t even felt his eye turn red once today.

The tall Dove fully turned to Rin this time, a slight glare on his face. Rin tried not to look worried or let the ghoul investigator realize that the boy’s hands were slightly shaking and simply raised a brow in return.

“What?” Rin asked, trying not to sound annoyed. He did though and fought the urge to cringe when Amon glared harder at him.

Why was he getting so angry? Rin couldn’t understand. He was pretty sure today was his most human day of all his heinous murder filled life. He was a good citizen today and even smiled at an ugly, hormone controlled human. There was nothing to be worried about.

Yet why was his heart pounding as if he was faced with the 13th ward’s Jason?

Right when Rin thought Amon was going to pull out Doujima, the dove pushed out his arm and Rin stared at the paper bag dangling from Amon’s fist.

“Your jacket.” Amon said, “I washed it already so just take it. I don’t want to see that ever again.”

Rin blinked and realized that he was actually holding his breath. Carefully, he took the bag and breathed out at the same time. Glancing into the bag, Rin saw his black hoodie neatly folded into a square. Rin felt the lopsided smile curl up his lips.

“Even though it pissed you off, you still actually folded it nicely.” Rin said, glancing up through his lashes with a teasing smile on his face. Amon’s jaw clenched and the pout formed on his lower lip. Rin thought the dove might be doing it unconsciously but he didn’t utter a word. It was cute anyway.

With a chuckle, Rin finally pushed through the wall of caution in his head and decided to just ask, straight out,

“How’d you know I was here?”

Amon seemed startled by the question at first but answered anyway. “I asked your neighbors.”

Rin couldn’t help it but his brow perked up a bit. His neighbors?

_‘I had neighbors who actually cared?’_

“I went to your house at first actually, but you weren’t answering the doorbell so I thought you left. I asked your neighbor where you went and he said you probably went to work.” Amon said.

“They didn’t know where either so I kept asking around before a girl told me about this place.” A pause and a raise of his strange brow before he muttered, “You’re really popular around your neighborhood.”

Rin felt a little troubled by that and stopped the grimace on his face before it appeared. He didn’t want to ask about who the Dove interviewed anymore. There was no need to know anyway but it was still baffling how much hard work the guy poured into simply finding out where Rin worked. Just so he could return ill-fitting clothes that only served as a tease.

“You didn’t have to go that far.” Rin simply said, noticing that he was keeping his eyes away from Amon’s, “You could’ve just left this at the door. No one would bother to look at it anyway.”

“If it got lost, you’d surely blame me.” Amon said. Rin raised a brow at that, pulling up his chin and trying not to show how much Amon’s height annoyed him.

Rin sighed then. “Whatever.” Then, with a strange and small amount of effort,

“Th-thanks.”

Amon scoffed, crossing his arms with a childish smirk on his face. “Hmph. After laughing at me so much, I didn’t think you’d have any manners left.”

Rin wasn’t really listening and had already left the human at the door. Chugging his coffee in one gulp, Rin moved to check if everything was in place and nothing could burst into fire before he took his jacket from the chair and walked back to the door.

Pushing Amon away and ignoring the cries of annoyance from the muscle mass, Rin locked the door then made sure it was locked before turning to Amon again. This time, with a look of confusion on his face.

“Why are you still here?” Rin asked. Yes, it was rude. He still found teasing Amon to be fun.

Amon stared at him in return, looking dumbfounded before he took a breath as if readying himself for something horrible.

“I need to talk to you so, may we walk together?”

For a second, Rin was about to blurt out ‘no’ but for some reason, he felt that it was best if he talked to Amon even just for a bit. Staring at Amon for a moment and assessing, Rin looked for any sign that the investigator had something against him. If secretly, Amon knew anything about him being a ghoul and was simply playing coy, he’d kill the Dove there and then. Amon simply and impatiently raised a brow. That was more than enough assurance that Rin was going to be fine.

* * *

 

Walking down the streets, night had already embraced them and the cold had been caressing Rin’s bare shoulders. Once they had started walking, Amon instantly lunged into a conversation about yesterday’s events.

Once they passed a whirring vending machine, Rin heavily sighed.

“I thought we were already over the fact that I used your toilet plunger.” Rin growled.

“It’s a _quinque_. Civilians aren’t allowed to use them much less butt in when an investigator is fighting a ghoul. If you got hurt, I would’ve been held accountable for everything.” Amon growled back, “and it’s called _Doujima_.”

“Whatever it’s called, I used it to save your life.” Rin said, “Isn’t that more than enough? I even killed that ghoul for you without damaging the kakuhou. So I’m sure that you shouldn’t be lecturing me anymore.”

Amon stared at Rin for a moment, his eyes simply filled with a newfound look of puzzlement and slight amazement. Rin thought he was going to say something but Amon simply sighed, turning his head away and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Forget it.” Amon quietly said.

Rin pulled his eyes away too, annoyed. If he knew that he was simply going to be lectured all over again, he would’ve killed Amon.

‘ _Damn Dove on steroids_.’ Rin inwardly hissed. Of course, the investigator was going to jump into Rin using a quinque. The guy was too obsessed with rules and it annoyed Rin, making him wonder just how uptight Amon Koutarou was. Then, he remembered when he hunted ghouls with the Dove. Recalling those memories, this was actually the least annoying version of the taller man.

In the middle of the quiet, Amon suddenly sighed. Looking over, Rin saw the Dove shaking his head in disapproval of something before turning to Rin and stopping mid-walk. Rin stopped too, glaring and pulling his chin up in challenge.

 _‘If you tell me not to butt into any fight again, I’ll kill you_.’ Rin wanted to say. But, Amon said,

“I’ve been tasked to recruit you.”

 

For a moment, Rin only stared, listening to the wind whistling past his ears and rushing through his hair. What did Amon just say?

The dove stared at Rin, looking displeased but not as much as when Rin gave him the black jacket that couldn’t fit.

After a long second of silence, Rin said,

“You were just lecturing me about not killing ghouls. Now you’re recruiting me.”

“Yes. I am fully aware of that.” Amon said through gritted teeth, “Stop repeating my words.”

Rin fought the urge to roll his eyes and simply walked up to the investigator. Before he could even ask why, Amon was already explaining his superior’s antics.

“When a civilian reported the incident, other investigators went to check on the scene.” Amon said, “The first thing they asked was if I was the one who killed the ghoul.”

Rin stared with a half-lidded gaze at Amon, feeling a little insulted.

The tall guy wasn’t really the type to make the clean cuts Rin had mastered.

“Of course, I told them it was the work of a civilian. They didn’t believe me at first but before I could explain what happened and who you were, they told me to find you and bring you into CCG.”

It was all so strange and good that all Rin could do was stare at Amon, dumbfounded. Who knew that his uncontrollable rage was actually good for something?

“So?” Amon started, crossing his arms, “Do you want to be an investigator?”

Rin wanted to say yes. To thank him for the opportunity to bring down his enemies and find out more about his brother, but there was something wrong with all of it. He didn’t know what though. Rin was sure about how much the CCG craved for good recruits. Even if the person wasn’t from their so called ‘academy’, they would accept as long as they hated ghouls and agreed to offer their lives for the good of humanity.

Was he simply being paranoid?

There was a tugging at the back of his stomach. As if a warm wave had gently come over his skin, Rin shut his eyes before quickly opening them again. With a straight face at Amon, Rin knew what he was going to say.

“I’ll think about it.”

Amon seemed shocked about the reply.

“Really?” he asked, his tone filled with undeniable shock. Rin wanted to clap his head.

“Am I that much of an animal?” Rin asked with an annoyed grimace.

‘ _Yes, you’re_ that _much of an animal_.’ Rin’s consciousness replied, taunting him more with flashes of the people he had killed. Rin rolled his eyes and started walking again.

The boy was adamant in his decision. Other than the tugging of his instincts, he recalled Mado and his sunken eyes. Rin only saw those kinds of eyes once. The human wasn’t a ghoul investigator but a reporter. Rin couldn’t remember much about him but for some reason, he had the same eyes as Kureo Mado and Rin knew that those kinds of people were the most dangerous so it was best not to be near him.

Rin didn’t notice that he had already walked a long distance until he heard Amon yelling his alias name then felt Amon’s heavy hand gripping his shoulder. The contact easily made Rin flinch before, in a flash, the boy grabbed Amon’s wrist and slightly turned.

Amon cried out in pain and before his wrist could make a cracking noise, Rin blinked and silently gasped, realizing what he had done. Quickly enough, Rin threw Amon’s wrist back, shocked that he almost injured a dove without using his kagune and also because he stopped himself.

Rin looked up at Amon, frozen and watched the taller man carefully wringing his wrist, cringing now and again.

“I…sorry.” Rin trailed off, not sure if an apology would be enough.

Amon pulled his head up. At first he stared at Rin, his onyx eyes flashing with rage before they lightened a quick second later and Amon tried to pull his eyes away from Rin.

“No, sorry for doing that.” Amon replied, straightening himself. Rin knit his brows a bit at the dove, puzzled with his actions.

A moment later, Amon looked up at the sky and Rin realized that it was already very dark.

“I’ll leave you, then.” Amon said, Rin opened his mouth to say something, maybe apologize again but he stopped himself. In the back of his head, he thought that there was no need for him to apologize. It was always considered rude for people to suddenly grab another person’s shoulders.

‘ _Especially with_ his _muscle grip._ ’ Rin could still feel Amon’s hand on him, forcefully pulling Rin back towards him. And until now, Rin could still feel the quick, flighty beats of his heart.

Amon hadn’t left though and was still staring at Rin with a strange pleading look on his face.

“You _will_ think about it, right?” Amon suddenly asked. Rin wanted to scoff at the dove’s tone. Amon was practically begging Rin to be a ghoul investigator.

Crossing his arms, Rin asked, “Are you sure you want me in the same line of work as you?”

Of course, there was a real threat behind the question. Rin’s capability to kill a man like Amon was a skill and a talent that Rin was proud of. It would’ve been as easy as breathing for Rin to make Amon fall to his face. It was a foolish decision to bring Rin in as a partner considering that the boy never worked well in a team. Other than that, days working with Amon weren’t the best days for either of them.

Amon opened his mouth to reply. No doubt with a snarky comment. But before Rin could clap him on the head for saying something stupid, the dove shut his mouth and simply turned his head away, muttering something under his breath.

With a sigh, Amon turned back to Rin. “I won’t be your partner. You’ll be paired up with someone else.” Amon muttered. Rin wanted very much to gasp with glee at that but stopped himself and kept listening.

“The point is, the CCG needs people like you. I didn’t know what happened after I passed out but,” Amon stopped himself and slightly narrowed his eyes at Rin, not suspiciously but with complete confusion.

“That ghoul must’ve done something really stupid to annoy you that much. My superiors were shocked by the cleanness of it all.” He said, obviously referring to Rin’s clean cut kill.

 Rin stared at Amon, feeling a little sheepish. What Amon was saying sounded like compliments to Rin. Even the boy considered it a strange feat. He was always used to using his sharp kagune, using them as swords. Using something like a bat to smash instead of cut wasn’t so easy.

Rin thought of a reply for a moment then easily found the right one.

“Who’d just stand by and let a ghoul kill someone?”

Quickly, the boy turned his head away, his long and thick hair easily concealing the way Rin’s jaw slid together in an attempt to stop the laughter.

 _‘I would definitely be that person._ ’ Rin thought, feeling the cruel and sick humored grin playing on his lips. The irony of his words clashing with his amusement was too funny to Rin.

Amon stayed quiet. Rin turned and felt his eyes go slightly wide because Amon was staring at him with a bored, raised brow, looking as if Rin’s words were the cliché and unusual words that didn’t fit a guy like Rin.

The Dove didn’t say anything else then nodded. “You don’t seem to know it, but you’d be a big help to us.” Amon said then turned his back to Rin. “Think about it and come find me when you decide anything.”

Nothing else was said so Rin simply watched Amon walk away, the sound of his shoes clopping loudly on the pavement.

Standing underneath the flickering streetlight, Rin simply watched Amon’s retreating form, wondering about his decisions to think about the job offer and whether it was the right move to say what he told Amon.

In the back of his mind, a voice kept whispering. It was the right move and Rin started agreeing with the voice. With Kureo Mado still in that place, the appeal of walking into CCG was thinner than a sheet of melting ice.

‘ _It was probably for the best_.’

With that, Rin started walking back home, clutching his jacket and staring hard at the pavement.

* * *

 

Rin stopped mid-walk, staring at the form leaning coolly against the hallway’s wall. Well, the person looked more as if she was guarding the place. The girl wore a pair of shorts that stopped mid-thigh, exposing her pale and sculpted legs, with her purple top paired with a jacket with a line of fur at the hood, she looked quite stylish.

Rin raised a brow at the girl then huffed, continuing the few steps he had to take to finally arrive at his house.

Moving past her and ignoring the level headed gaze, Rin shoved his key into the keyhole.

“I never thought you had style.” Rin said, his voice dripping with honeyed mockery.

Touka scoffed at that, obviously unnerved by the tease. “As if _you_ know anything about style.”

Rin tried not to pause or glare at the girl. He had to get back at her for that.

“Well, I’d love to give you a cup of coffee but I’m not in the mood for your face, Kirishima. Having you pass by me in Anteiku is more than enough to make me sick.”

He hoped that would make her go away. It would surely piss her off and incite a brawl but still, he still didn’t want to be nice. Rin still hasn’t forgotten about the girl mentioning Jin so easily.

Beside him, Touka’s gaze had darkened and she was holding a mean grimace, looking as if she just smelled excrement.

“The old man wanted me to check up on you.” She said, “He said you were really weird at the shop. And I agree. Your smile was fucking creepy after that you kept cleaning everything, staring at everything, and you didn’t even glare at the customer that made a fuss about his girlfriend. Then, you closed the shop.” A pause. “You did close the shop, right?”

Rin gave her a glare then said ‘of course’ through gritted teeth.

He stared at the girl for a moment, regarding her with a cool, bored look. “I really don’t need you guys watching over me.”

“We never asked your permission.” Touka shot back. Rin rolled his eyes in exasperation. “As long as you’re working in Anteiku, you’re not getting away with your sick sadistic tendencies.”

Rin froze at that. Instantly, the fog started to mix on his head. A familiar bubbling heated up his stomach and warmed the air around him, easily defeating the cold night.

Sadistic tendencies.

For some reason, Rin was getting tired of hearing Touka rambling about what he does with his life.

“If I was killing anyone, Kirishima, you’d be the first to know.” Rin said, his voice dangerously low.

Touka simply stared at him, a look that simply said ‘I can kill you right now and it wouldn’t matter’ flashing in her eyes. Rin gave back the look tenfold. With the atmosphere sharper and thicker than a bloodied knife, Rin fought against the itch on his lower back, his kagune was trying to break free.

“Threatening my friends again?” Touka whispered, “You sick fuck.”

“Your friends are boring.” Rin spat, “It must be more interesting to fight you. So if you don’t leave now, you’d have to wipe off your own blood from the floor.”

For a moment, Rin thought they would fight. That Touka would lash out and kick him out into the air, taking them somewhere dark and secluded where they could fight with their lives on the line. But Touka simply stared at him. Moments later, the darkness in Touka’s eyes started to dissipate before she straightened her back.

“You really are insane.” She muttered then turned her back, walking to the stairs again.

Halfway to the flight downwards, Touka stopped, turning her head.

“That guy you were with.” She started and Rin had to control the way he froze up.

“Be careful of him.” She simply said.

Rin raised a brow. “Why?”

‘ _’cause he’s a Dove?_ ’

“I think he knows about you.”

With the way she said it, only ghouls would understand how frightening that sentence would be.

The boy blinked at that, catching the way his shoulders stiffened before moments when Amon stared flashed in his mind.

Touka probably didn’t see the boy’s sudden flash of worry. Without hesitation, she added,

“If you get us all into trouble, I’ll kill you!”

 She turned away once again, leaving Rin to listen to her sneakers stomping against the steel steps.

Holding the knob, Rin stared at it, thinking. After a while, his grip loosened.

No way Amon would’ve known. If he did, Rin wouldn’t be home right now. For sure, he’d be bleeding on the pavement, his skull possibly to be crushed by Amon’s hatred and disgust, fully enhanced with Doujima’s brute power.

Everything’s fine.

With his self-assurance, Rin pushed open the door, relieved by the familiar scent of home.


	13. Acceptance

Three days had passed since Rin last talked to Amon and so far, nothing bad has happened.

Well…nothing _very_ bad, that is.

With his mind wandering all over Amon’s offer and the fact that the higher ups in CCG asked for him themselves, Rin had been battling possible happy endings against potential death sentences if he ever did accept the job. Though the boy prided himself on his sharpness of mind, his body did occasionally refuse to follow his brain. Because of all his muddled thoughts on the CCG, Amon, his brother and his secret life, more accidents started to happen around him.

Two days ago, he had messed up horribly during a gig-missing a beat and stumbling over his drumsticks.

 Humiliated, the boy refused to leave the dressing room until every single person who watched the live and witnessed his clumsiness dispersed. Of course his band mates thought it was hilarious and slightly cute but Rin despised the mere fact that he forgot a beat much less dropped his drumsticks and made their vocalist’s voice jump a note higher than the usual. Unlike Rin, Luka wasn’t really bothered by the sudden squeakiness of his own voice.

“Erin was the one who-“

Kuruta elbowed the young vocalist, gaining a loud whine from the boy which the leader easily countered with an annoyed glare. After a long while of knocking on the door, the rest of the band made for the wise choice and simply left Rin to sulk in the dressing room.

At first, Rin thought that that could’ve been the worst event. He was wrong.

The next day, he almost got hit by a truck that had lost its breaks before he stumbled over his feet while going down Anteiku’s stairs and spilled (very expensive) ground coffee all over the polished wood floors.

Rin wanted to ask someone about his problem so he could be momentarily relived of the stress piling up on him. He wanted to ask what he should do, but of course, there was no one to ask. If he asked the old man, he’d definitely be greeted with an easy ‘no, your safety will be compromised’.

Itori definitely would say yes and give him some words but Rin never trusted her in the first place.

For all he cares, she could be humming sweet words that would actually bring him marching straight to his death like a stupid toy robot. For a moment, he wished Rize was still sitting next to him, the familiar, playful smirk on her face as she relished the confusion Rin was going through.

Rin deeply sighed as he pressed his palms against the kitchen countertop, annoyed with himself when he recalled all the events for the past few days.

“Rin.”

The boy turned and was instantly greeted by the warm huff of coffee and Kaneki Ken’s small but weirdly confident smile. Not understanding what Kaneki was doing, Rin only watched as Kaneki pushed the cup of coffee towards Rin.

“I noticed you’ve been looking really tired lately.” Kaneki said with the usual, quiet voice.

Rin felt his eyes soften with annoyance at the recollection of his days. ‘ _No kidding_.’

Unaware of Rin’s thoughts, Kaneki continued, “So I thought this could cheer you up.”

Rin stared down at the dark drink, watching the clear warmth curling from the liquid. After stealing a minute glance at Kaneki, Rin gingerly took the cup, flinching a bit when his skin brushed up against Kaneki’s colder thumb.

“Thanks.” Rin quietly said. At the corner of his eye, he saw Touka pause to watch the two of them, an indecipherable look in her one visible eye. Rin wanted to raise a brow of challenge to her but before he could, the girl turned her head then simply walked away.

Kaneki didn’t seem to notice. And only now did Rin realize the shorter boy was still standing before him, a look of concern and a strange restlessness in his face.

At first, Rin wanted to ask what was bothering him but it was a possibility that the boy was simply waiting for Rin to explain his bouts of sudden stress. So instead of the usual question, Rin stirred up a new issue-Just recent and slightly alarming to Rin.

He was sure no one else in Anteiku knew about Touka and Kaneki going into CCG disguised as high school kids. Watching them from the corner of the street, Rin could only guess that Touka was the one who thought of the idiotic plan and simply dragged the poor eyepatch kid along. Other than that, he didn’t know what they were doing there. And since he has unsettled business with a certain ghoul investigator, Rin had to know…

“What were you guys doing in the CCG?”

While the instant look of shock and worry settled on Kaneki’s face, Rin was calmly sipping coffee, thinking that the black haired ghoul had good talent for making the drink.

‘ _Should I ask for his help sometimes_?’

Rin looked back up, hoping the eye patch kid wasn’t about to go into a fainting spell or at least didn’t forget how to speak. Knowing the reason for their visit was probably the most important thing to Rin at the moment. Who knows what kind of hell Touka would unleash if she found out about Rin’s relationship with Amon and the Dove’s offer for Rin to be one of Touka’s mortal enemies?

 The boy stopped sipping coffee at that thought, momentarily wondering about what he’d do to the girl if she did stop him.

Kaneki then laughed, his tone making it painfully obvious that he was nervous.

 “Nothing, really…” He said and scratched the bottom of his chin.

Rin didn’t buy it and simply grinned, placing the coffee on the table.

“Touka’s been telling me to be careful with those Doves ever since I stepped foot in this café.” Rin said and narrowed his eyes, feeling slightly annoyed all of a sudden. A lopsided grin rose on his face.

 “Is it _that_ hard to follow her own advice?”

“And you?”

Rin looked up to the door, eyes flashing from beneath his lashes and towards the girl leaning coolly against the doorway. Pushing away from the door, Touka approached Rin with a look the boy still couldn’t decipher. He suspected that it was a look full of the usual loathing but something tugged deeply at his stomach. So he pulled his chin up, bracing himself for Touka’s words.

“What were you doing with one of those Dove’s, Rin?” Touka asked, “Actually, how’d you even know we were there? Unless you were hiding behind a trash can like the shitty little rat you are.” She continued, fearlessly looking up at the taller boy and ignored Kaneki’s hand gently and worriedly pulling at her sleeve.

Rin felt his eyes darken as he tilted his head. He was about to say it wasn’t her business but he already knew her answer to that. It was, Rin hated to admit, her business.

After a length of time, Rin’s finally understood how important the café and its people were to the Kirishima and she’s been here longer than Rin. It shouldn’t be hard to decipher how far someone like Touka would go to protect their home.

Though Rin accepted her reactions and stubborn rudeness towards him, he still disliked her. Just because one understands a person, doesn’t mean they can’t despise them anymore.

“Touka.” He purred, leaning closer to the girl until he felt the edges of his own fringe tickling Touka’s hair and felt the air of tension the girl was instantly pushing against him.

 “I asked first.”

With a haughty smirk, Rin asked again, “What were you two doing in the CCG?”

For a moment, the room was deathly quiet save for the hushed bubbling of the coffee pot.

Touka titled her head to the side, crossing her arms and looking Rin right in the eye, her own purple one gleaming under the kitchen light with what looked like subtle triumph.

“Originally, it was for Hinami’s sake.” Touka simply said, “But we heard about a ghoul getting killed by a dove.”

Rin raised a lazy brow. “And?”

“And the Dove was with a civilian named Erin Murakami.”

For a split second, Rin almost let himself flinch. Thankfully, he was able to simply blink instead while the young girl stared him down with a quiet arrogance that reminded Rin of a cat closing in on a clueless bird.

 Touka momentarily pulled back, closing her eye and sighing as she took a turn, moving past a Kaneki that simply had no idea what he should do in the situation.

“If that wasn’t you then you really do suck. Not being able to think of your own alias, how pitiful.”

The girl stopped at the door, pulling her head back up with her eyes filled with a condescending disgust that Rin simply wanted to punch off her face.

“But if it was you, then I’m gonna remind you about your deal with the boss.”

Touka was about to say more but Rin raised a finger, staring at Touka with a dark eyed look.

“The deal was, I wouldn’t kill without reason.” Rin snapped back and watched as Touka cocked her head back, suddenly looking revolted with the boy’s answer but Rin continued anyway.

“You should’ve listened to them more. That ghoul was causing trouble for everyone.” The boy tilted his head, narrowing his eyes in puzzlement, “Shouldn’t you be thanking me? I pretty much cleaned up the neighborhood.”

Touka blinked at that and with what seemed like a sudden realization, her visible eye widened as she clenched her fist to the point that her knuckles turned white. Rin could feel the quick change in the air and the sudden bitterness crackling between him and Touka like sparks off a firecracker.

Kaneki seemed to feel it too and started looking smaller between the two ghouls in the middle of what seemed for Rin to be a tug of war for power over the other.

In the back of his head, Rin knew what was coming. With the tingling in his stomach, Rin carefully straightened himself with utter surety of the slight worry popping in his head and trying to fight against the annoyance pushing through his senses.

 Rin was positive about it. Touka knew about everything that he and Amon have been talking about. She knew that Rin was definitely thinking about becoming a part of the humans that viciously and thoughtlessly killed his own kind. It was more than irksome that Touka was probably thinking that way.

 “So you really are-“

She swallowed, unable to actually say what she had discovered about Rin. The boy stared her down, daring her to say the words and savoring the heated adrenaline rushing through his neck, the feeling of triumph pushing through his skin.

“I’m really what?” Rin quietly asked, his voice as low as a whisper, “What am I, Kirishima?”

 _‘A killer_.’

Rin wanted to hear it. Wanted to see how much he was despised by this person.

But he suddenly felt his stomach lurch to the left along with his entire body. Shocked, Rin simply grunted as Touka’s weight pushed against his body, shoving his back hard against the cement wall. Rin was about to cuss but almost gagged when Touka shot out her arm, pushing angrily against the boy’s throat.

“ _You piece of disgusting shit_.” She hissed through teethe gritted so hard, Rin wondered if her gums were going to end up bleeding by the time all this was over.

“You’re actually thinking about becoming one of _them_?!” she growled, spitting out the last word and knocking Rin back harder into the wall that the boy actually felt his skull vibrate through his skin. Beside her, Kaneki was frantically shouting at Touka in a whisper, saying something about how there were costumers just outside.

Touka ignored him but kept her voice low, “We heard about your little escapade with that guy.” She said, clenching her shaking fist, “that man helped kill Hinami’s mother and left her without anyone. He’s a piece of scum that deserves death. And yet here you are helping him out and killing your own kind for him.”

‘ _He killed ghouls for me too_.’ Rin wanted to say but chose to keep listening.

“Because of what you did, your name’s been said all over the CCG.” She suddenly scoffed, her filled with manic and hateful scorn, “You’re not just betraying us, you’re also putting everyone in Anteiku at risk.”

Touka pushed her arm deeper into Rin’s throat. He could feel the hot anger running through her arms, the redness practically turning her face pink with anger.

“Touka, stop!” Kaneki cried, staring at the way Rin’s throat seemed to get thinner and smaller underneath Touka’s brute strength. Though it was an annoying sensation to Rin, he simply stared her down, a bored look on his face.

 “Explain yourself, fucktard. Before I kill you.” Touka hissed, pushing her arm farther into Rin’s throat.

 The boy didn’t even flinch. He simply stared at her, suddenly feeling the mental exhaustion pulling down all his energy to fight against the girl and throw her down the floor.

Carefully, so carefully, Rin pulled his arm up, moving towards Touka’s arm. At first, Touka simply eyed his hand, leaving more pressure on the boy’s throat in a motion telling him to stop whatever he was planning.

But before Touka could do anything else, Rin’s hand was wrapped around her throat, carefully tightening and pushing his clawed fingers into her skin.

“The only one who should explain is you, Kirishima.” Rin said, effortlessly applying more pressure when Touka pushed harder into his throat.

“HEY! STOP IT!” Kaneki cried louder this time but neither of them did.

“I gave you some time to tell me what to do. I let you order me around. But now, you have no right to ask an explanation from me.” Rin said with a balanced voice despite straining to speak against the pressure of Touka’s arm.

He ignored the slight pain and the growing need to breathe more air. He wanted to kill the girl again. Just a little more strength. He just had to put in more power and squeeze harder, then there’d be one less annoyance in his life but something was stopping him. Today wasn’t one of the days he wanted to be a killer.

‘ _Just leave me alone_.’

Suddenly, a heavy hand plopped over Rin’s shoulder. The boy turned to whoever it was, feeling his eyes warmed to the red and black he had successfully hidden for so long.

Kaneki’s single visible eye was filled with quiet and humble determination despite the startling strength his hand put on Rin’s shoulder.

“That’s enough, Rin.” Kaneki said, his voice pleading, “Please stop it now.” His eyes suddenly softened and Rin almost flinched, instantly reminded of his older brother whenever Rin disappointed and worried him.

“We just want to help.”

After a moment of quiet, Rin let his eyes fall along with his chin, allowing his fringe to fall over the red that’s taken over his eyes. Finally, he pulled his hand down and took a subtle breath when Touka carefully pulled her arm away.

A moment later, Rin shoved past his co-workers.

“I never needed your help.” He spat, striding out the room. Out in the hallway, he was instantly met with the old man’s gaze.

“Rin?” Yoshimura called. The boy simply moved past him, deciding to keep quiet until the end of the day and just dove head first into work.

* * *

 

The last costumer finally left the café, leaving his cup of still warm latte half-empty for Rin to clean up. Without a word, Rin started cleaning the table, completely unaware of the stares everyone was giving towards him as he quietly wiped the table.

“Hey, what’s up with Rin? He’s really…calm today.” Irimi asked with slight worry and uneasiness, tucking her jet black hair into the back of her ear before glancing back at the boy walking around the dining area with a blank and tired look on his face.

Beside her, Kaneki was washing the cups and sighed through his nose, seemingly wanting to say something but chose to just keep quiet. The boy was about to open his mouth and answer Irimi’s question but Rin was suddenly moving towards them. Kaneki found himself freezing up, his heart instantly going into a sprint since it was a strong probability that Rin heard that they were talking about him but instead, Rin simply moved past them, heading straight to the locker room.

Both Irimi and Kaneki blinked, simply confused with the boy’s attitude change.

Feeling their eyes on his back, Rin simply huffed through his nose with only changing into normal clothes in his mind. The boy could hear them of course but he was honestly too tired to snap back and tell them it’s none of their business why he was so quiet. It was a good thing too. Pushing himself to work was actually a good way to keep himself from ruining his plans.

Even after serving humans, doing the very thing he sneered at, Rin’s plan to go to the CCG didn’t waver.

After a quick return to his casual clothes and a hard shove against Touka’s shoulder when they walked past each other, Rin weaved through everyone else and took towards the door, shutting it hard behind himself as he left for the CCG.

 

After a short walk, Rin was once again looking up at CCG’s façade. Gleaming windows beneath the orange rays, a tall and proud structure protruding from the city’s horizon. For once, Rin thought it was actually a nice place.

Taking a deep breath, Rin started towards the front door with Amon Koutarou in mind.

* * *

 

Rin looked up at the ceiling, his mouth falling open at how high the ceiling was and wondered about why he suddenly felt like Itori was probably laughing her ass off at the moment. Looking around, Rin expected a more hectic scene-Investigators moving about, civilians crying about lost children and a murdered loved one but it was actually a quiet afternoon in the CCG.

The sterile air wafted straight into Rin’s nostrils. Carefully inhaling, he noticed that it easily overpowered the stench of the ghoul killers surrounding him. To Rin’s surprise (and gratefulness) there were only a few ghoul investigators around him.

There wasn’t anything special about the place. It seemed like the lobby of a usual work office. Looking ahead, Rin saw a lady standing behind the front desk. She was staring right at Rin with a smile that was probably going for kind and welcoming but simply made Rin worry for his own safety.

Steeling himself, he strode through the lobby, walking straight towards the lady and ignoring the looks some employees were giving him. Though most ghouls would probably be shaking like Chihuahuas right now, Rin was entirely confident in his disguise as Erin Murakami.

A young boy with slightly long and messy black hair and equally dark clothes? It probably sounds like any normal teen in the 20th ward.

Stopping at the desk, the woman instantly asked about what he was looking for.

‘ _I guess it’s oaky to simply look for mr. muscles_.’

“I’m looking for Amon Koutarou.” Rin said, nonchalantly folding his arms over the desk, “he asked me to look for him but I’m not sure if he told anyone about me.”

“Erin Murakami?”

Rin turned to the voice and cocked his head back, stepping away a bit since the guy was standing so close to him. Pulling his head back to see the guy clearly, Rin almost mistook him for one of his bandmates.

For starters, the guy was a foot taller than Rin. Looking up at the guy, Rin was starting to feel really annoyed especially since the guy had a snarky expression hidden behind green eyes that gleamed like emeralds underneath long lashes, thick brows and a mop of smooth golden hair kept in a calculated and fashioned mess.

Despite his rebellious hairstyle that warred against the CCG’s office air, the guy wore a proper long sleeved work shirt tucked neatly into a pair of black pants and had a black blazer hanging from the hooked fingers propped loosely over his shoulder.

For a moment, Rin simply stared and wondered. He’s seen people younger than him working as ghoul investigators so it wasn’t too much of a leap to think this guy was a Dove. Was this guy actually working in the CCG??  Or did he recognize Rin as a band member and was actually a fellow artist like Rin? Or was he a model endorsing the CCG?

Rin blinked at the last thought. It was simply too ridiculous and gruesome to have a civilian endorsing murder of ghouls.

Though the guy had the looks and the fashion sense that suited life before the flashing cameras, Rin was still momentarily puzzled so he simply asked,

“Who are you?”

The tall guy laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and smiling lopsidedly at Rin.

“My name’s Sugawara Aki.” The guy said with a wide and cheerful smile as he held out a hand towards Rin. Carefully, Rin shook it, quickly withdrawing his hand while Aki briefly told the lady Rin was a guest.

 “Amon told me about you.” Aki said, tilting his head to the right and making his hair shuffle along to reveal the beauty mole nestled underneath his left eye. “Bad timing you have though. He’s out on a case with Mado at the moment.”

Rin almost rolled his eyes. Of course the muscle mass isn’t around when Rin actually wants to talk.

Turning, Rin quickly went for the door, feeling annoyed, “I’ll just come back then.” He called over his shoulder. The boy was already half way to the door when a flash of blonde hair whipped past his vision and stopped right before him.

Stopping in his tracks, Rin tried to look surprised and urged himself to keep the worry contained underneath his expression. Instantly, Rin started to wonder whether or not Amon actually knew that Rin was a ghoul and simply had all his fellow Doves to lie and wait until he foolishly and practically offers himself into death.

Aki didn’t seem to notice Rin’s discomfort though and smiled the same lopsided smile that warranted a camera’s flash.

“Just a second, kid.” Aki laughed. Now Rin wanted to shove the guy away.

 _‘I knew I wouldn’t like you_.’ He thought, recalling the haughtiness behind the guy’s eyes that rivaled his own. Not caring if he sounded and looked rude, Rin pulled up his chin, titling his head to the side a bit as he raised a brow.

“Kid?” he asked, “I’m 22.”

Aki’s smile widened and looking as if this was suddenly a competition, the blonde pulled his chin up in arrogance before he shifted into a cat-like smile. “I’m your senior then, I’m 25.”

Rin wanted to throw the guy into the wall. Everything Aki was doing had confirmed Rin’s suspicion that he’s one of those people he hated. With the arrogance of his chin and the haughtiness in his voice, Aki was practically a clone of Rize only he was taller, more masculine and a lot more annoying.

‘ _Being older than me isn’t something to be proud of._ ’ Rin wanted to say but quickly remembered that he had to be nicer. Having more enemies that could shoot quinques at his face on the first day wasn’t exactly on his bucket list.

So instead, the boy simply hummed and quirked a brow.

“Well then, Aki.” Rin started, emphasizing the lack of honorific before he stuffed his hands into his pockets, “What’d you want to say? If there’s nothing I’d like to leave then just come back when Amon’s returned.”

Aki chuckled, a boyish and youthful sound then motioned towards the couches at the side of the lobby. Rin quietly sighed but moved towards the couch, carefully sitting and pulling his leg over another, waiting.

“Amon told everyone you’d be coming.” Aki said, sitting in the chair opposite to Rin and threw his blazer over the chair’s armrest. “Then again, we all hoped you would.”

Rin knit his brows at that. “Me?”

Aki shrugged his shoulders, crossing his legs, “Everyone here knows how you killed a ghoul with Amon’s quinque. And mind you not just anyone can use that baseball bat without injuring their shoulder.” Then, he briefly looked Rin over before muttering something under his breath.

“Anyway, Amon told me to handle your paperwork if you ever came here.” Aki said then smiled what Rin thought must’ve been his usual lop sided smile, “So, we can start if you’d like.”

Once again, Rin felt himself hesitating and wondering if this was a good idea. But unlike before, he felt a little more assured that he’d be alright.

After all, he never thought it would be difficult to kill a few birds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a long hiatus, I AM BACK. (FOR NOW HAHA)


	14. Out of The Nest

Rin pushed through the mechanical doors, eyes staring down at the ground before he noticed that it was already night time, the surrounding light as dark as his looming shadow. Looking up, the moon was full and clear, a beacon of cold and ice that seemed to glow brightly over the clear mist that rolled out of Rin's slightly parted mouth.

The human he talked to was quite annoying. But even with a seemingly arrogant personality that didn't seem to waver even against the annoyed glares of the older Doves, Aki was able to do his job of talking to a "new recruit" quite well.

'It'll only take some paperwork.' Aki had said, 'But after that, you'll surely be taken in. After all, it was Amon who vouched for you, and First Class Mado never said a word against it.'

Rin carefully turned back to the building, noting the sudden brightness of the lobby and the strangely comforting aura it gave off to anyone outside. If possible, most people would probably think it was a hotel rather than a nest for killers.

' _A nest for killers_.' His head repeated.

At that thought, Rin blinked then quickly scoffed, an amused lopsided smirk on his face as he ran a hand through the cusp of hair at the back of his head. He was confident he could get through those doors without a problem, but seeing that it just happened simply made him feel a bit of a hazy aftershock.

He looked back up at the building, his eyes gleaming silver like the moon. Just a few more steps and he can finally start moving. Progress for the mystery that was his brother's death.

Rin sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his head once again, thinking that doing so would comfort his flighty heart.

"You actually went and did it, huh?"

Rin turned his head, eyes bright with alarm that resonated through his skin at the sight of Itori standing right before him. Not wearing her usual black dress, she protected herself from the cold with a navy blue coat and black leggings. The ominous and mischievous smile was still on her face, of course and it was all Rin needed to see to start thinking she was planning something.

Instinctively, Rin looked haphazardly over her shoulder and tried to get rid of the heavy itching at the back of his neck. Seeing the doors of CCG, Rin felt himself freeze up.

As if understanding something he should have understood a long time ago, Rin felt the cold lick of the wind on his back. For once, turning his back on another person made him feel an unfamiliar fright. Carefully, he turned his head back to the red haired woman, seeing the ominous smirk on her face. She didn't seem harmful at all.

What with her pretty eyes and the perked up brow over those long lashes. Rin already knew though. Thinking badly of her was exactly what he should do.

Not just any ghoul would come up to the CCG so fearlessly.

Seeing the way she was acting, Rin made sure to keep his eye open for any funny business she was planning.

"What are you doing?" he quietly asked, gazing at her with dark eyes as he carefully approached.

Itori blinked at him, suddenly looking very confused. "What're you talkin' about?" she asked, looking up at Rin as he loomed over her. He narrowed his eyes at her, stopping himself from glaring at the woman. He had to remember, it certainly wouldn't be wise to stir up trouble right at the doors of CCG.

Huffing, Rin started to walk away from her. At the back of his head, he hoped she would follow him and not go into the building. Was she here to go to the CCG to rat him out for whatever reason? Or was she here to simply talk to him? He wasn't taking a chance on the former.

' _If she has something to talk about, she'll follow_.'

And she did. Both of them taking long strides out of the CCG's jurisdiction, Rin decided to take her to a café just to have a proper conversation. Tonight wasn't a night he wanted to kill someone.

He turned to look over his shoulder. Itori was still following, her brow raised and her lip pouted in annoyed confusion.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" she asked and quickly caught up to Rin, already walking beside the boy. A sudden grin pulled up in her face as she playfully poked at the boy's side. Rin flinched away, practically hissing at her in annoyance.

"Do you actually want to take me to a love hotel, or something?" she giggled, "I'd love to come along. I hear it's quite big."

"Will you shut up?" Rin growled, an annoying redness spreading over his cheeks. Turning a corner that led into the smaller suburban streets, Rin finally turned to Itori, deciding that he won't be able to take her annoying presence all the way to the nearest café.

"Are you playing around with me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the woman who narrowed her eyes back in response.

"I followed  _you_  here, Cheat." She hissed in an annoyed whisper despite the slight smirk on her face. "Don't you think  _I_  should be asking you that?"

For a while Rin simply stared at her, weighing his chances of gaining information out of the woman.

"It's good that you followed actually." Rin said and started towards her.

Not disappointing him, Rin felt the air suddenly go tense around the woman as she was forced to back herself into the wall, her back pressed against it as Rin loomed over her once again, his back impeccably straight as his eyes gleamed under the moonlight.

"I really don't trust a ghoul who can so forwardly walk up to the CCG without looking the least bit scared."

"Haaa??" Itori hummed loudly as a sudden glare pulled up on her face. Defiantly, she put a finger against Rin's abdomen and pushed. Against the pressure, Rin narrowed his eyes, wanting to push back but the woman's nails were annoyingly sharp.

"I wasn't there for the CCG." She said, watching Rin carefully back away before he slapped her hand back.

"Then what were you there for?"

Itori tilted her head to the side, her brow raised in slight amusement. "Are you always so suspicious of everyone?"

Rin raised a bored brow in return. "Do you always distract people with stupid questions until you have your way?"

The woman simply scoffed at that but before she could speak again, Rin held up a hand.

"Just answer the question." Rin snapped, "What were you doing at the CCG?"

For a moment, Itori stared at Rin, her arms crossed and a look of quiet contemplation on her face. A second later, she sighed. "I was simply passing by."

Rin narrowed his eyes at that. He was about to say, he wasn't buying her shit when the sound of a phone suddenly rung through the air. Momentarily caught off guard, Rin watched Itori pull a cellphone from out of her pocket before she looked at the caller ID for a moment then groaned, suddenly looking very annoyed.

Whipping her eyes up at the boy, she flashed her phone up at him, practically pressing the bright screen right at his face. Focusing his eyes, Rin saw the text in all caps, screaming the question: "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???!!?!?"

"There, see! My friend's screaming at me now!" she yelled in annoyance. Rin stared for a while, watching her text as she pouted, looking up at Rin with a glare now and again.

Titling his head to the side as if he were desperately trying to listen to something, Rin knit his brows, not even hiding the look of confusion on his face.

"So...you really were-"

"Yes." Itori said, the word long and annoyed as it left her lips. "Like I said, I was just passing by, didn't I?" she finished, ending her text and pushing her phone back into her pocket as she narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Stop being so suspicious of everyone, would you? It's not attractive at all."

Rin stared at her for a while, still finding it hard to believe he was wrong and that Itori truly was just having a fun night out. Rin didn't believe in coincidence but he did know that there was a bar just a few minutes away. Maybe the woman was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Realizing he was probably being ridiculous, Rin sighed and sidestepped, giving Itori enough space to walk away.

"Sorry." He quietly muttered, annoyed that he had to apologize to this woman of all people.

Not looking the least bit annoyed, Itori chuckled and once again, surprised Rin by throwing an arm over him before she placed a kiss on his cheek.

"No worries!" she giggled, "It's not your fault, you're so paranoid."

Not giving Rin any time to rebuff her, Itori was already skipping away, waving goodbye without looking back at Rin.

He stared at her retreating form. Though he hasn't been fighting for weeks now, Rin knew he was still capable of bringing anyone down but at the moment, he actually hoped that he was wrong about Itori and that she really was just passing by.

With a final sigh, Rin turned away and started towards his house, which was practically blocks away. Right as he was about to turn, his phone started ringing in his pocket.

Pulling it out, Rin knit his brows together, feeling a slight cold running under his skin. Looking at the screen and the unknown number trying to call, Rin raised a brow once again. Not many people know his number. The only ones who probably knew were his bandmates and the old man Yoshimura. But seeing as this number was new, Rin found his brows knitting together even farther.

' _Maybe it's that little ass, Aki._ '

Recalling the Dove, Rin sighed then cleared his throat as he tapped the green button.

"Hello?"

"Rin! We need your help!" Kaneki shouted into the phone. For a moment, Rin felt his chest tighten before it grew hot with annoyance.

"Help?" he spat then checked his watch. "Do you have any idea what time it is already, Ken? If this is Anteiku business it can-"

"IT CAN'T WAIT!"

Rin flinched at the boy's scream, taken aback by the sudden shout that Kaneki never unleashed in the café especially when he was around.

"Hinami is gone! Please, you have to help us find her!"

Rin dwelled on it for a moment, staring down at the paved road in disbelief. Though he has never talked to the little girl, he could feel his own legs buckling, trying to make him move and fight against the aimless stubbornness of his mind.

"I-"

"PLEASE!" the boy's voice cracked. Rind froze at the sound, his mind boggled by the loud pants and gasps from Kaneki's side of the conversation. Listening, Rin could see the boy gasping for breath, probably running through streets with eyes wide with worry and uneasiness.

' _Don't butt in.'_

"Please, help us! Hinami can't be found by-"

Rin had tapped at the off button. Staring at his phone for a moment, he thought quietly, listening to the crickets peacefully chirping around him.

' _What do I care if she's gone_?'

Staring at the paved road, Rin felt his chest tightening for some reason. He knit his brows at the feeling, a disgusted look on his face.

Even if he did want to help, he shouldn't. The paperwork was already done with and he had the badge. His hand slowly going up to tap the cloth of his pants, Rin felt the small circular badge that vouched for his humanness. The moment he walked into the CCG, his ties with Anteiku and all of its ghouls had been cut off from his life.

' _You'll regret it_.' He thought to himself then quickly growled and stomped towards home, easily ignoring the sound of his phone ringing manically in his pocket.

* * *

 

The next morning, Rin was at the CCG. Wearing black pants, a simple black sleeveless shirt and red a button down shirt, he looked nothing like the other investigators walking around him and heading into the building, looking like obedient ants.

Rin knit his brows at the façade, for some reason feeling slightly nauseous.

It was a strange thought. Was he the first ghoul to do such a thing? Infiltrate the CCG and actually become one of the ghoul killers?

An invisible force tugged him back from walking closer to the building. Was he actually just scared? Rin almost scoffed at the thought.

Him? Scared?

' _I've gotten soft_.'

Just a few more steps and he can find out about his brother. Thinking about it now, Rin wondered why he didn't plan to infiltrate the CCG where information about ghouls was also available. True that it might not be accurate, but it beats busting tables every day, not progressing at all.

The familiar scent of ghoul's blood suddenly blew up from behind Rin. It was deeply unappreciated. But he figured he had to get used to it. He'd be smelling it every day, after all.

The boy wrinkled his noise at the smell a bit, telling himself that he has to control his nose. It would probably be a little suspicious to humans if his nose keeps twitching whenever a ghoul investigator comes around to talk to him.

The boy grinded his teeth, watching the humans walking inside the building, carrying either a stack of papers or a familiar gloomy briefcase.

' _Now or never_.' He thought, nonchalantly moving towards the bulletin board and pretending to study the ads on it. In truth, the boy was rushing through possibilities in his head. What if there were dogs in there that could sniff out a ghoul once they set a single foot inside the building? What if Kureo Mado was the first person he'd meet? Rin grimaced at that for a bit.

' _That'd be one hell of a welcoming committee_.'

Running his hand through thick and well-brushed hair, Rin sighed. For once, he was genuinely worried for his own life. Of course, he wasn't stupid.

Years or running and tormenting the Doves who were as inhumane as he was, the boy had grown up gauging his strength and honing his abilities to think five step ahead of his opponent. These days however, he's realized that those abilities have been dulling.

A sudden surge of warm annoyance welled up in his chest. ' _It's because of that damn coffee shop_.'

Feeding him like a pet, restraining him from his previous tendencies to go on a bloody rampage in the streets and actually making him clean and make food for humans. Even after months of working for Anteiku, Rin still finds the place annoying.

Looking up, Rin froze to feel the unexpected softness in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he turned back to the CCG, feeling deeply in his gut that he had to do it now or there won't be another chance as good as this.

Right as he was about to take a step forward, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder.

Rin whirled, his eyes wide with shock as he practically jumped a foot away from the stranger. At first, he thought it would be Amon but there was no scent of ghoul blood. Instead, there was the familiar scent of coffee-warm and slightly rough to his nostrils.

"What are you doing?" Touka asked, her single visible eye wide with a silent rage that unsuccessfully hid the confusion. Beside her, as usual was Kaneki. Though he kept a distance between Touka and Rin, Rin could sense that the eye-patched half-ghoul was willing to help Touka stop whatever Rin was planning too.

The boy was momentarily confused however. How did they know where Rin was?

Today was a Sunday and it was a day off. Usually, no one really knew where Rin went when he wasn't working in Anteiku or rocking out with the band. Other than that, hanging up on Kaneki last night was obviously a sign he just about had enough of working with Anteiku and he never told anyone about where he would be today.

After a moment of thought, the theory that the two ghouls actually followed him didn't sound so stupid.

"I'll ask you the same." Rin said, swiping Touka's hand off his shoulder and fully turning towards them, "What are  _you_  doing?"

"We've-" Touka paused her words, quickly closing her mouth and looking as if she was getting ready for a fight. After a deep breath, she continued.

"We've been following you since this morning."

Instantly, Rin felt his gaze darken as the familiar tinge of hot annoyance started to well from deep in his gut. After all this time, after everything that he's done, can't these human loving fools get the picture?

"You what?"

Touka ignored the dangerous lowness of his voice and simply glared back, her eyes darker and more menacing than before.

"Did you actually think I'll let you get away with ignoring us when Hinami needed help?" she growled.

"I'm not affiliated with you people anymore." Rin countered, feeling his chin arrogantly pull up, "So why should I help?"

Touka loudly clicked her tongue and Rin watched as her glare turned deadlier. With the way things were going, Rin wouldn't be surprised if she kicked him in the face.

Beside her, Kaneki made a quiet exclaiming sound, pushing himself between Touka and Rin before anything else could happen.

"P-please don't get mad, Erm, Erin." Kaneki stuttered, trying to keep his shaky gaze on Rin's furious glare. "It's just you looked really troubled and I just thought you didn't really want to-"

"You thought you'd just follow me and tell me what to do now that you think you understand what's happening?"

Kaneki closed his mouth, Rin's quick and angry reply easily shutting him down.

"It really isn't your business to tell me what to do. I can fend for myself so I don't need your help." Rin said, feeling the chuckle rise up from his throat, "Especially yours."

Though Rin could see the hurt in Kaneki's face, he didn't bother to look apologetic and instead, stubbornly pulled up his chin.

"Get lost." Rin loudly said. "I don't need your approval."

"You actually do." Touka suddenly interjected. Rin pulled his glare towards her, more than ready to skewer the girl with the kagune just poking at the skin on his back.

"What?" Rin hissed.

"You still work in Anteiku so whether you like it or not, you're still under our contract of not endangering anyone from Anteiku." Touka said, "If you want us to stop pestering you then take it up with the old man-"

Rin was already stomping through his two co-workers, his mind set on talking to Yoshimura.

His mind roared, his blood soaring to a sudden peak of hot anger at the thought that, he was right. He never should have listened to the old man. Now, he has an obstacle to deal with before he even gets to the first step to finding out about his brother.

"I'm so fucking close already." He hissed underneath his breath, ignoring Touka's shout filled with bad words and Kaneki's worried calls following Touka's voice.

* * *

 

After a quick few minutes, Rin was already storming past the café's back door, listening to the heaviness of his sneakers and Touka and Kaneki's exhausted shouts, telling him to wait for them and to tell them what the fuck he was doing.

"Shut the fuck up." Rin growled, clenching his fists so hard that he could feel his arm shake along with his voice. Ignoring Touka anger and pissed off cries, Rin swept through every room, trying to find that dignified and straight back.

Finally getting to the dining area, Rin stopped at the doorframe to see Yoshimura just standing before the glass walls, staring at the outside world with such stillness, Rin actually thought he was just looking at some kind of statue.

"Yoshimura." Rin called with heavy breaths. The old man turned and the first thing Rin noticed how calm and unsurprised he looked.

Seeing that look, Rin scoffed, amused that the old man knew him so well.

"You know what I'm gonna ask you, right?" Rin asked. For a moment, Yoshimura simply stared at Rin through almost invisible eyes. Pulling down his head, the frown deepened on his face.

"I cannot let you do that."

Rin felt his blood go cold. Not in shock, or plain anger. He wanted to kill the man. Right here, right now.

"I told you that I knew who your brother was." Yoshimura said, "He was a good man. And I do not wish to see his brother get hurt."

Clenching his fist, Rin pulled his head down, trying to thinking past the thumping in his skull, past the growing hotness in his eyes. For some reason, something was still stopping him from going nuts and destroying the entire place.

Taking a deep breath, Rin pulled his head back up, not even bothering to hide the look of disgust in his face.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved in you idiots." Rin loudly said as he straightened his back, arrogantly pulling up his chin and looking down at the old man with disdain he would give a lowly ant.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Rin growled, "Worrying about me with your misplaced self-righteousness. It's honestly ridiculous for you to care so much when you shouldn't be. I don't need your help, I never did. I did what you told me to. I laid low, I haven't killed anyone in months and if I ever did, I did it to protect someone. So would you mind telling your damn employees to stop following me to the CCG? If I see them walking behind me ever again, I will kill them, do you understand?"

As the boy spoke, Yoshimura only stared, quiet and serene as if Rin's kagune whipping behind himself were nothing more but mere toys that could never hurt him.

After a moment of silence, the old man turned away from Rin. At first, the boy was ready to turn around as well, to finally leave everything behind when at the corner of his eye, he saw a picture in the old man's hand.

Staring right at him with a wide, playful smile was the picture of his brother. Familiar bronze eyes almost hidden beneath a head of messy, light blonde hair, Jin's face had instantly pierced Rin's chest. The boy flinched in place and almost growled both at himself and at the old man who dared to touch his brother's picture.

Rin stared at the old man, suddenly feeling exhausted. After all his words, Jin truly was his one weakness. It was positively stupid.

"What do you want from me?" Rin asked, staring at his brother's face and feeling the look of pitiful sadness plastered on his own. "I can't find him here. So will you just fucking let me go already?"

Yoshimura didn't reply to that and instead, said,

"Your brother was a very secretive man. No one knew much about how he lived his life or how it ended. So I only hope that you're right about finding what you need in the CCG." Turning to Rin, his gentle smile had gone, replaced by a seriousness that made Rin's chest twist and hide in instinctive intimidation, "Please do not make rash decisions. Your brother would probably be disappointed if you do."

Feeling the smooth paper gently tap at his knuckles, Rin looked down, seeing his brother sitting atop one of Anteiku's tables, holding up a cup of coffee to whoever took his picture and smiling widely at him with eyes bright with life that simply made Rin scoff in disbelief. How can a ghoul be so happy?

It was the first time Rin had seen such an expression.

"We found that years ago inside one of our bathroom stalls." The old man said, "Someone your brother knew must have dropped it." He then pushed the picture into Rin's hand, unafraid of their strange coldness, "It is yours now."

Rin gingerly took the picture from the old man's hands, careful not to fold it as he buried it in his pocket.

Giving the old man one last look, Rin finally turned away, heading straight for the door where Kaneki and Touka both stood, looking quite ready to jump in and attack. Surely they were thinking Rin was going try and kill Yoshimura. But lucky enough, the old man knew how to push the right buttons to calm Rin down.

Touk didn't however.

"Try that again and I'll fuckin' skewer you-"

She gagged, slamming hard against the cement wall as Rin's kagune pressed up against her throat.

"TOUKA!" Kaneki screamed and glared at Rin. He was about to lunge the boy but before he could even move, he was already sent flying to the far end of the hallway before Rin's kagune suddenly widened, acting as a shimmering red wall between him and Kaneki.

Behind him, Rin could feel Yoshimura's subtle blood lust, a slight warning to stop what he was doing unless he really did want to be skewered. But Rin ignored the feeling and looked back at Touka, his eyes not even changing to the red and black of ghouls.

"I don't work here anymore, you little shit." He purred, "So try and wash out that damn mouth of yours before you talk to me." Rin whipped away his kagune, letting Touka drop to the floor with a loud THUD! as the wall disappeared before Kaneki.

Without another word, Rin took long strides toward the door and simply left, not even bothering to look back.

 


	15. Into The Cat's Claws

Today was a lovely day. The birds were chirping, the sky was a clear, light blue and the sun wasn't striking Rin's dark head as hard and as hotly as he expected a morning sun to.

The only problem was the air stale with the scent of rotting ghoul's blood.

Just a few feet away, the CCG was beaming under the sun again-a beacon of death to ghouls and now, a beacon of a new and exciting (?) day for Rin. The boy tried not to grimace as he carefully approached the building he would be working in until he found Jin's profile, the wind coming in as a wave of ghoul disgustingness that almost knocked Rin off of his feet.

Cheetah has killed more than a dozen of ghouls in his existence, so one would think he should be so used to the smell by now, but the only thing he was resistance against was the horrendously sour taste of ghoul flesh. Once the smell came in like a tidal wave, it was almost sure that he could vomit from the scent of rotting meat.

He gritted his teeth, his knuckles brushing the bottom of his nostrils in an attempt to clear out the smell he'd be greeted with everyday starting from now on.

 _'Loser_.' He bitterly thought, his brows twitching as he held down the urge to glare at the CCG's building, ' _This is nothing_.'

' _All for Jin_.'

With his brother's name ringing in his head once again, Rin felt a light warmth press gently against his back, as if pushing positive energy into his bodice in an attempt to cheer him on. The fact that he started thinking that Jin was actually watching over him almost made him laugh.

If Jin truly was watching over, Rin's face would probably be stuck to the ground now. Despite the fact that Jin was a very secretive man who barely truly showed affection for his little brother, he was still quite protective.

After all the shenanigans Rin has gone through for the past few days, he'd surely be punished by Jin's heavenly wrath if he was ever watching his little brother walk into the headquarters of ghoul killers.

Looking around, he noticed more of the investigators coming in, most of the completely passing by him and heading into the building with paperwork practically pressed into the faces stamped with exhaustion.

Some gave him slight glances before they pushed through the front doors though. One of them even shoved hard against Rin's shoulder then glared before muttering a very rude insult under his breath.

It was quite understandable. Rin was standing right in front of the entrance anyway, staring into the lobby.

Realizing just how much of a nuisance he was, the boy cleared his throat, feeling slightly embarrassed as he took a wide step back.

The slight and small bump-like rise on the floor shocked Rin for a start, making him gasp and almost slip unto his butt before a large hand powerfully grasped his forearm. Whipping his eyes to the person who saved him from an embarrassing loss of dignity, Rin almost laughed.

A tall human stood behind him, his head blocking the morning sun and shielding Rin's eyes. Two onyx eyes staring at him with clear annoyance and a hint of confusion.

"What are you doing, blocking the way?" Amon asked, knitting his brows together as he frowned disapprovingly at the young man staring at him with wide eyes.

Of course, he'd instantly run into the muscle mass. It was exactly 7 a.m. after all and Rin was well aware that the tall human wasn't really a fan of being late. Though he was on time, Rin grinned.

"What took you so long? After calling me to work with you, this is how you treat me?" he asked, pulling himself up and fully turning to the investigator who was currently looking Rin up and down. "Never thought you'd be this slow," Rin continued to tease, "I got here 10 minutes ago."

"So you've been standing here like a nuisance for 10 minutes now?" Amon asked, perking one brow, "I'm not sure the superiors would like that kind of bothersome attitude."

Before Rin could rebuff, the man had already whisked past Rin, striding straight backed into the CCG.

Shocked that Amon had actually called him a nuisance, Rin repeatedly blinked, feeling his eyes go wide in a feeling of slight offence. It wasn't normal for Amon to be so bold and rude with people he had barely spent time with. Though it was clear from the way Amon spoke that he wasn't in a good mood, Rin still felt annoyed that he had been pushed aside so easily. And by that human too.

Quickly, Rin strode into the building as well, almost running into the back of another investigator who tried to cross his path and annoyingly stopped right before Rin. Growling, Rin sidestepped the human and hurried after the long legged Amon, following closely behind with a childish glare on his face.

For some reason, Amon's easy attitude of swatting the boy away with a poker face was starting to make Rin think that his day wasn't going to be as easy as planned.

"Hey, I was just trying to see where I had to go to." Rin said, trying to reason out why he was spacing out in front of the building, "It's not my fault I wasn't told where to go." Rin muttered under his breath, slightly glaring at the back of Amon's head.

Almost instantly, the taller man stopped in his tracks. Rin stopped as well, trying not to touch shoulders with other human investigators who were now walking in from both behind and in front of them.

Amon turned to Rin, looking down at the boy with a cold stare that Rin had seen each and every night they were together hunting for ghouls as the Damn Dove and Cheetah. Seeing the coldness in the man's face, Rin tensed, suddenly feeling as if he had done something very wrong. Right when he was thinking that his eyes had turned a midnight red, Amon asked,

"Will you follow me around like this the entire day?"

For a moment, Rin was extremely confused. Blinking, he tried to swipe away the excessive thoughts of worry for his ghoul identity and replaced them with the question of,

"Isn't that what I should do?"

Well, wasn't that the usual drill when you're a new employee? Rin was positive he didn't have a so-called 'partner' in the CCG yet. That bastard Aki didn't really say anything about it so Rin figured that his current mentor would be the human currently looking at him like he was an annoying bug.

The Dove rolled his eyes so hard, Rin's jaw fell in absolute shock, his neck going hot in an unpleasantly new feeling that he barely felt as a much to be feared ghoul.

"I can't stay with you all day." Amon said, glaring at Rin now as he scratched the back of his head, looking troubled as if he was going to watch over a toddler. Rin felt his eyelids drop slightly lower as the age old annoyance stated to warm up his skin.

"If you didn't want me following you around so much why'd you offer a job where you obviously have to supervise me, dumbass?"

Rin's voice was so loud, almost everyone close to the duo turned towards Amon, looking at him with eyes that simply asked, 'is this brat with you?'

The boy didn't mind being called a brat now. It would be easy to make them eat their words once Rin kills another ghoul soon. Right now, what mattered was embarrassing the bastard who was seemingly trying to embarrass the ghoul who's actually putting his life on the line while his lifelong enemy stood right before him.

Trying to avoid looking into the eyes of annoyed investigators, Amon cleared his throat and stared hard at Rin, looking at the boy like he was a math problem that just couldn't be solved in an hour. A defeated sigh finally escaped the man's lips and Rin had to control the urge to grin in triumph.

"I will accompany you until Aki arrives." Amon said and turned on his heel, continuing to walk away, heading towards a long line of white barriers, cutting off the section of the first floor that led to the second level with only two metal detectors on each far side of the barriers functioning as the entrance and exit, "Let's just make it clear first that I will not be your partner."

"You already told me that before." Rin said, highlighting his annoyed tone with an exasperated sigh. Looking up at Amon as he crossed his arms, he saw the man's jawline move as if he were grinding his teeth. Obviously, Rin was starting to irk Amon too but that wasn't going to stop the boy from asking so many questions today.

After all, he had to know as much as he can on the first day at the CCG. Even though Rin was someone who has escaped countless tricky situations with the plethora of information that he had stored in his mind, it was regretful to say that the boy had limited knowledge when it came to the bowels of the CCG.

' _The most I get out of people is that there are ghoul files in here_.' And that was it.

Approaching the metal detectors, Rin glanced up at it, thinking it was completely useless since these things would usually have guards standing next to them, waiting to pounce on the clueless idiot who wore a piece of metal on themselves.

Thinking about it, Rin was sure his choice of outfit today didn't consist of anything heavy and metallic so there was certainly no need to-

"Oh, sonny!"

Both Rin and Amon turned to the voice behind them, both of them looking slightly shocked that someone had called either one of them 'sonny'.

A long necked man wearing a green body suit stood next to a mop bucket that's probably seen only tons of disgusting, mud filled (or blood filled) days.

"Just in case no one's told you yet, those old things are messed up." The man said with a gravelly voice, pursing his chapped lips and walking up to the two men, "Will go nuts even when a little old broom gets past it."

To demonstrate, the human quickly swiped the tip of his shoe through the machine.

A wild round of fast and continuous, high pitched beeps suddenly rang through the air, easily gaining everyone's attention. Rin jumped, the blood under his skin going cold with shock as the beeps screamed through the first floor before the beeping stopped just as quickly as they started.

"Just sayin'." The man said, fixing the cap above his head that clearly indicated he was one of the people who mopped the floors of the building daily, "You investigators always jump the gun when this thing beeps."

Behind Rin, he heard Amon sigh. Turning to the man, Rin saw the slightly troubled look on his face as he stared up at the machine.

"This will surely keep everyone on their toes again." The muscle mass said in agreement. Rin almost knit his brows at that then stopped himself.

He never liked showing how confused he truly was.

Huffing, Amon moved past Rin and easily walked through the detectors, ignoring the way it came back to life and made all the investigators around them turn to Amon with bright eyes ready to pounce. It was...quite unnerving, actually.

Thinking that he was walking through a pride of lions, Rin wanted to grimace at the looks the humans were giving Amon while the janitor calmed the humans, patting the air with his hands as the lazy and gentle smile lit up his wrinkled features, the words, "No worries, no worries, the RC gate's just broken. Get back to your business."

"What's with all the glares?" Rin asked, walking through the detectors as well and trying not to curl his lip in annoyance as the machine bleeped at his passing again, sounding as if it was deeply rejecting Rin's existence now.

"And why is it called an RC gate? A special name?"

It puzzled the boy. Usually these things were seen in airports or in five star hotels, not in a building where the humans are practically the weapons themselves. Now, Rin wondered if the investigators had more than just their quinques as weapons. Did they have guns or knives hiding underneath those heavy coats too?

"They're for detecting ghouls."

' _Fucking what?_ '

Rin could almost feel the vomit pooling at the base of his throat.

Swallowing all the sudden, red panic that silently beeped just as wildly as the hellish gates he had just went through, Rin's eyes whipped up to look at Amon's back in shock but, Rin was greeted with Amon's face instead.

The man had looked at Rin, quietly with knit brows. All too suddenly, the man's silence suddenly threatening to the boy's ears.

But he couldn't panic here. Not right now. That would be suicide.

Trying not to look scared and caught off guard, Rin continued the normal walking pace and let his brows knit together, trying to tone down the hotness running up his chest and threatening to make the red in his eyes burst into life.

"Ghouls?" Rin asked, hurrying after Amon and instantly noticing the shadow of the third floor looming over his head. Just above them, a diagonal walkway was set with a group of Doves walking just over a ghoul scared shitless.

As if his confusion had been cleared, Amon's eyes dimmed with the usual seriousness he held. "Yeah. Ghouls." He affirmed before turning his head away, walking faster now.

Realizing luck had just slapped him on the back like an overly proud coach, Rin subtly loosened a breath and let the annoyance take over since it was the one feeling that usually kept him cool and level headed.

' _I can't fucking believe this. I almost killed myself.'_

If that janitor hadn't said anything, Rin would probably be in a holding facility. Either that or Amon would've tried to kill him on the spot. The man he was currently thinking about was now in the middle of explaining the RC gates.

Something about them detecting RC cells that are high over 1000 and that if your blood cells don't go over 500, you're a normal person.

"Sure enough they'll be fixed soon." Amon muttered, sounding almost nonsensical to Rin now.

It was the first time he had literally walked into trouble. Before all this, he knew if a situation was going to cut his head off but now the shock was a little too much. He swears that he just saw a gleaming black blob tauntingly skip past his line of sight.

"Anyway," Amon started as he turned a corner with Rin still following close by. He suddenly turned to Rin, a small smirk turned up at the corner of his lips, "you sounded a little...uneasy when you asked about the gate detecting ghouls."

He turned his head farther to Rin, raising a brow this time.

"You're not scared of one coming in here...are you?"

It was a simple tease, but Rin was never one for jokes, especially now that he was practically shoved out of his safe zone. The boy picked up his pace, walking faster until he was striding right next to Amon. Before Amon could overtake him, Rin whirled and fully turned to the tall man, stopping him in his tracks as the glare grew harder under his brows, a growl almost making its way to his lips.

"You think I'm fucking scared of the very things I came here to kill?"

"Or are you one?"

It was like being struck by a truck hurtling 100 miles an hour right towards Rin. Like a bull shoving wicked sharp horns right through his sternum. The boy stood frozen before Amon, feeling his own eyes go wide with astonished panic. Did Rin just run into another trap? If so this is the second time he'd be killed but now, it was surely harder to escape.

"As an investigator, I'm always going to be suspicious of jumpy people." Amon started, "When I said the gate was for detecting ghouls, I was already waiting for your voice to crack. Even the toughest of ghouls couldn't let that pass so easily."

Rin kept his glare on Amon. Though his alias-Erin was supposed to be a human truly pissed at the suspicion of being a ghoul, Rin himself was angry. The mere thought that the human who he had escaped for so long being able to catch him so easily like a fish that had wiggled into a fisherman's net was more the infuriating.

The human stared down at Rin now. Though Amon's brows were knit together in that quiet and familiar determination, Rin could sense the triumph in the human's skin, just burning for Amon to finally burst into a run to try and kill the ghoul.

"Hearing your voice, there was a speck of fear." Amon said, "Now, I'm just wondering if that fear was a fear of ghouls or a fear of me discovering a ghoul."

He doesn't know. He doesn't know. The chant should've calmed Rin but all it did was fuel the spark of worry in his mind.

' _There's no fucking way he could know_.'

Rin was practically in the middle of a panic attack, feeling his heart going into a sprint as the tall human stood before him, his brows already knit together in a quiet that was as threatening as the quinque held close by with his right hand. Was Rin actually going to be caught red handed in the middle of enemy territory?

The mere thought of it was worrying. Taking mental note of the building's exits, there was only one that Rin knew about, and that was the front door. Other than that, there were also windows. It was possible for him to burst through them if he didn't have the time to run back down the ground floor.

In the middle of his thoughts, Rin stopped thinking. He wasn't going to run just yet.

Gritting his teeth, he glared harder at Amon, his mouth curled in disgust. He was not going down here. His spine tingled, his feet itching to sprint into a run just to find the room where they kept the files of all the ghouls in the country. But he held his ground.

He wasn't doing all this just for Jin. He was definitely going to succeed in fooling Amon into thinking he was a human. Rin was going to be the one who has the last laugh.

"What did you just say?" Rin asked, his tone deadlier than Amon's glare.

The human blinked, his look of quiet anger that was ready to prosecute Rin into the fact that he was a ghoul seemingly softening into slight confusion.

Inwardly, Rin smiled. ' _So easy_.'

Like switching on a button, Rin let his anger pour out, his fists clenching as he glared harder at the human, gritting his teeth and letting the hotness spread on his chest, his long strides easily taking him to the human who instantly lost the look of accusation on his face and pulled his back straight.

Practically inches from Amon's face, Rin stared hard at the human, not hiding the look of disgust plain on his face.

"I. am not. A fucking. Ghoul. If I were do you honestly think that I would've let you leave my house? I would've killed you right then and there."

The boy instantly turned away from Amon, huffing loudly in mock annoyance as he bowed his head. It was practically a bow to an invisible crowd, really. As much as Rin wanted to laugh at his own performance, he had to keep it up.

He heard Amon take a breath but Rin cut him off.

"Forget it. Just take me to where I have to go." Rin said, "I don't want to follow you around."

For a moment, there was only silence between them before,

"Alright."

* * *

 

A telephone was ringing at the corner of the wide office, sounding like an angry and over exaggerated owl.

After squaring off with Amon, they finally moved into Amon's department. Rin wasn't really paying attention to the room names, he was busy pretending to look annoyed and angry that he was accused of being a ghoul.

But simply enough, Rin was stuck in the intelligence department.

Rin kept himself seated, his shoulders tense as he carefully studied the nest of the Doves. It was his first time truly being inside the office and it was certainly unnerving.

Just in the other cubicle opposite of where he sat waiting for Amon, a human was tapping wildly on a keyboard, the sound of non-stop clicking almost in a harmonious click in the air filled with the sterile scent of paper print and clean rugs.

He's been in an office before but he never expected the CCG to be so normal. Before coming in, Rin was actually expecting an underground center. Perfect for the rats he had been killing and running away from all his life.

While he was busy looking around, a stack of papers fell with a sudden, crunchy PLOP! in the table in front of Rin.

He whipped his head to the sound and stared at the stack, wide eyed and wondering about how on earth it was possible that seven inches of stacked papers were still capable of being sandwiched between the thin, white flaps of an old folder.

"Your first assignment is to arrange these ghoul files alphabetically." Aki smiled daintily, propping an elbow over the top of the folder. Rin meanwhile was in the middle of trying to balance a look of disgust over a look of someone ready to kill.

He wanted to ask when the hell the boy had gotten inside the room but there was a bigger, more important question burning in his head.

"What the hell is this?" Rin asked, grimacing at the files before he looked back up at the taller boy, his golden curls annoyingly as joyfully bouncy as his current mood. Aki sighed, clapping his hands together to clear it of the dust. He turned to Rin, a smirk on his face as he fully turned to the CCG's newcomer.

He was seemingly about to say something bur Rin cut him off by looking around the office, looking for the damn human that had sneakily left him with this brat.

"Actually, where's Amon?" Rin asked then turned back to Aki, "If he was the one who told me to do this, I would..." Rin narrowed his eyes at the taller boy and smirked, cocking his head to one side in mocking arrogance.

"...But you're not him, are you?"

The boy with golden hair hummed at that, a cat-like smirk on his face. Tilting his head to the side, Aki's grin widened.

"True. Amon's currently handling some stuff for you since he's better with paperwork than I am. But I am your senior partner. So I'm pretty sure you'll still have to follow me even though you're older."

Rin wanted to get up from his seat and just walk out of the room. This all had to be a joke. A brat like Aki was to be Rin's senior partner? Rin knew nothing much yet but he knew that when in cases that needed both of them out in the field, hunting for ghouls, this preppy, silver spoon fed child was going to be the one leading the mission.

It was more than worrying.

But, Rin repressed it all. Continuing to think about his personal mission, Rin held his tongue and simply glared at his new partner.

Though the taste of obvious and absolute defeat was bitter in his mouth, Rin swallowed his pride as a ghoul and carefully leaned back on his chair, his eyelids falling low in annoyance before he totally shut them, and slowly sighed out through his nostrils.

"I'll have it done by the end of the day." Rin said, trying not to spit out the words.

The boy thought that was going to be the last he would hear from Aki for the entire day. But of course, he was very much wrong. His partner had stayed to watch over him, his head hovering just above the cubicle barriers Rin was confined in.

Currently, Rin was sitting on the floor, surrounded by the masks of ghouls pasted unto white papers filled with their description. Some were painfully familiar to Rin, some were not but Rin took note of each and every one, taking in all the information he could.

Surely once he's found out more about his brother, he could be much safer around other ghouls. Knowing who they were and what their kagune was would be more than helpful.

At one point, he started looking for Itori, hoping that he'd see a mask that would match the girl's annoying personality. With information on her, he could easily blackmail the girl into apologizing for annoying him so much. But so far...all he could hear was Aki's noisy rambles.

"-thought you were seriously gonna fight right then and there." He said before he paused, an exaggerated gasp making Rin knit his brows together before he finally looked up at the boy looking down at him from behind the barriers, his arms crossed underneath his chin and his mouth open in a wide O.

"Do you really hate it that much? To be mistaken for a ghoul?" Aki asked as he rested a cheek on his knuckles.

"Who wouldn't be pissed?" Rin quickly asked before he turned back to the files, not really looking now even as he continued to take out more from the folder growing shorter beside him, "It's a fucking insult."

In some way, it was slightly true. For Rin, the insult wasn't in the fact that he was called a ghoul. He is one. But what he was not was a stupid ghoul.

For years, he had passed through society unseen for the real monster that he was. Intricate and sure plans were his life, and a quick set of weapons that could cut a man down in seconds made sure that he was alive. And surely enough, no ghoul has gotten as far as he had today. Another ghoul would've probably fled the moment the RC gate had beeped.

That Amon could actually think Rin was a stupid ghoul was more than just an insult.

' _Well, you are. If that gate wasn't broken, you'd be dead right now._ '

Rin shoved the thought away with an audible growl. His human partner didn't seem to think badly of his opinion though. Humming, Aki moved away from the barrier and moved towards the opening of the cubicle, leaning coolly on the open way with crossed arms.

"Well, think of it this way." Aki started, watching Rin shuffle through papers, "If you were a ghoul, you'd probably be really worrisome to fight against."

Rin almost stopped moving his hands over the papers and looked towards Aki but he stopped himself with a blink. He let himself glance at the boy, a look from the corner of his eye before Rin took himself back to the papers, not replying and simply waiting for his explanation.

"Seriously, not just anyone can lift Doujima up so easily." Aki said in a matter of factly tone as he walked towards Rin, shiny leather shoes gleaming under the office's LED lights, "If I had the body of a ghoul, who knows how awesome my life could be. I'd be really hard to bully."

And that was when Rin let himself scoff. Now, it was obvious, painfully obvious why he hated Aki at the first glance.

The guy was pretty, but he was stupid and vain against the cruel monsters of the world.

The boy hadn't looked at Aki yet but his mind was already back to placing the names alphabetically, the names echoing in the back of his head as the one thought rang at the front of his mind, begging to be spoken. And Rin let himself say it.

"That's what you think, huh?" Rin asked. A smirk suddenly pulled up the corner of his mouth, a comforting smile that hasn't appeared for a long time in his face.

"If you were a ghoul, would you want to be hunted by someone like me?"

Even if Rin wasn't an investigator, in the back of his mind, he laughed with delight at the thought of someone stupid enough to challenge him. He might be losing his touch for a bit right now, but he was still the same merciless killer he grew up to be and no one will be exempt from that.

As if Rin was a kid playing effortlessly with knives, Aki stared at him with narrowed eyes. Before long, a smirk just like Rin's had grown in his face, the canines exposed sharp and pearly white.

"If I were a ghoul, you couldn't kill someone like me."

Rin's jaw almost fell to the floor in absolute disbelief. Truly, the nerve of these humans. But now, he guessed it was true. Being in your own territory certainly would give you more power over other people.

"Open challenge. Really?" Rin loudly asked, tired of keeping his thoughts to himself now.

Aki grinned back at that as he chuckled, the toe of his shoe casually tapping at the floor. "It's a norm here in the CCG. Get used to it, old man."

Before Rin could rebuff, the boy had already retreated, running away with quick and clam strides towards the door before he slammed it shut, leaving Rin in the middle of his paper puddle, once again, left shell shocked with disbelief.

Finally, he let his face fall into his palms, both with the attempt to rub away the cold exhaustion heavy on his eyelids and the annoyance blooming from his head.

"So fucking annoying." He muttered under his breath.

 


	16. Trust Issues?

It’s been a few hours since Aki had left Rin to have fun with the paperwork and so far, the boy was starting to feel ready to throw himself out the window.

Though he was able to easily fix the papers Aki gave into the correct order they had to be in, Rin was given another batch of ghoul names to fix up literally seconds after he had finished the first batch.

Now, the boy was once again stuck in the middle of a circle of paperwork. Still seated on the floor with his legs crossed underneath himself, Rin was now vacantly staring at each mask, trying to find a ghoul whose name started with a letter Y.

‘ _Good god, help me_.’

All of this work should’ve been great for Rin. Literally being handed information didn’t really happen so often. Most of the times, he either had to run through hoops, fool other ghouls or even kill them just to get what he needed. Now, being handed the names of the ghouls he had fought with and ones he had never even laid eyes upon was still too amusing for him to fully grasp and also quite annoying.

Over at the other cubicle, the sound of a human snickering to himself made Rin look up from under his lashes in annoyance. Listening closer, Rin realized the man was probably watching some kind of video in the internet.

Feeling as if time was taunting him like a spoiled child bent on showing off his favorite toy, Rin rolled his eyes hard, flapping the paper in his hands into straightness before attempting to refocus his mind to the work at hand.

Going through the mental list of ghouls Rin had met in his lifetime, Rin heard a knock on the hollow cubicle wall. Eyes going up, Rin saw Amon standing in the middle of the cubicle’s doorway.

Amon nodded, pulling his head backwards in a motion that beckoned Rin to stand up from his work.  “You need to come with me for a while.”

But Rin stayed put and simply flexed for a bit, slightly turning his upper body to let Amon get a better look of the way Rin’s eyes narrowed in tired suspicion. Certainly, the human wasn’t suspicious of Rin’s humanity again. The boy was positive he was able to get rid of that doubt quite well but at the moment, he really didn’t want to start a fight with Amon here. The room was painfully too small to properly unleash his kagune if he ever had to.

“I’m a little preoccupied right now so-“

“It’s about your quinque.” Amon said, highlighting the last word with a tilt of his head and a smirk on his lips. Rin narrowed his eyes at the look. Right then, a tinge went up his spine. And not in a good way. He was about to gain his own ghoul-killer. Simply put, he’d be holding another ghoul’s compressed corpse in his hands. In a way, he should give the humans a bit of credit. Killing enemy ghouls with their fellow species was rather inhumane, disgusting, and deranged but at the back of his head, Rin thought it had a bit of tragic poetry to it.

“Don’t do that,” Rin quickly said as he sprang up from his seat, a grimace on his face as he moved towards Amon, “you look really creepy.”

The investigator instantly lost his smile. Clearing his throat, Amon stubbornly whipped his head away and straightened his back, turning to the side and heading towards the door. Without looking back at Rin who was busy arranging his work and hoping that no one would touch the papers,

“Are you coming or what?” Amon called back, opening the door and going through, not even bothering to wait for Rin.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Rin jumped over his papers and stomped towards the door, growling to himself and muttering about how impatient the man was.

* * *

 

“A quinque?” Rin asked as they walked through the narrow hallway with Rin narrowly avoiding a boy with wild blonde hair just barely tamed by a red cap, “I just started, didn’t I?”

Hearing about the CCG, Rin was aware that the humans had some kind of school for Doves before they were allowed to finally hunt down the ghouls they hated with all their might. Rin tried not let his nose crinkle at that thought. A school where young humans learned how to fight and butcher ghouls. It was disgusting but not quite surprising to Rin.

The majority of humans were cowards when it came to something different, after all so it was either fight or flight when encountering a ghoul. The latter really wasn’t an option for these Doves.

“Yes, you just started, but as you already know, the higher ups were the ones who called you in.” Amon said as they walked down the long and wide flight of stairs, “They only told me to bring you in and get you to work once you agreed to my proposal.”

Rin subtly perked a brow at that, humming in reply and making it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.

Walking down to the ground floor, Rin instinctively pulled his head up, seeing the white RC gates descend from the top of eyesight. Looking at it, his heart started to beat harder.

He should’ve stayed in the office fixing papers.

“Hurry it up.” Amon said as he hurried down the stairs, practically just tapping down them.

People were walking through it but now it wasn’t beeping. Not once. For a moment, Rin could feel his lungs crumple like a piece of used paper. But it was probably because there was a maintenance crew fiddling with it at the moment. Wearing green jumpsuits and heaving heavy looking tool boxes, they were the most comforting sight Rin had seen for the entire day. He silently sighed with relief at the sight but now, he had to hope that it took a while to fix the gates.

Looking hard at the gates as he tried to subtly slow his walk down the stairs, Rin grinded his teeth, praying to the god of luck that the gates were still being fixed. Taking the last flight of stairs, Rin swallowed, hearing his heart beating wildly in his ears.

‘ _Goddamn it, calm down_.’

Before him, Amon was confidently striding towards the gates, glancing at Rin now and again to probably make sure the boy was still following.  For Rin, he couldn’t shake the thought that the look was calculating and sure like a panther’s easy and soft gaze towards its already half-dead meal.

Grinding his teeth, he kept walking, making sure that he kept his nonchalant and levelled expression even when he was literally, once again, walking into a death trap. Inwardly and while battling against the mad bouncing of his heart against his ribcage, he thought about how good his cardio was and if there were enough doors and windows close by for him to run through.

It was like one of those damn math problems Jin used to ask Rin when they were studying math. In this situation, the problem would be,

“If there were 100 ghoul investigators and a building with 600 windows and 1,000 doors, can a ghoul who hasn’t eaten anything decent for 3 weeks survive a likely massacre?”

The boy tried not to growl at the thought and shook his head clear. If he was gonna die right now right in the CCG…well, it probably wouldn’t be so bad. As far as he knew, he was the first ghoul to actually work in enemy territory and not get caught at the first try. It would be something glorious to his headstone.

‘ _What in god’s name makes you think you’ll get one?_ ’

He’d be made into a freaking quinque the humans would name ‘Idiot’.

Amon was already at the other side of the barrier between the lobby and the inner offices. There were only a few steps left until Rin walked through the gates. Getting closer, he hoped these damned gets were giving the maintenance crew a hard time. Either that or Rin had enough time until it started its lunatic beeping.

Taking a deep breath, Rin grinded his teeth, straightened his back and lightly lifted his chin, a look of determination hot on his face as he passed the men wearing green jumpsuits and walking through the gate.

He was only met with the muffled and serene roar of office-life. The gates were still broken. Carefully turning his head, he listened to the maintenance crew sighing, one of them cussing and asking no one why it suddenly broke. Getting past the gates, Rin almost let out a sigh of relief but stopped himself, looking up at Amon to distract the excited neurons firing in his brain like bullets of crazy sparklers.

“What are you staring at, let’s go, Erin!” Amon loudly shouted, his low and rogue voice carrying all the way to the little ghoul staring at him in flustered shock. Was Rin that scared of being found out? It wasn’t natural. Normally, he’d be laughing at this situation.

Fighting his minute happiness at literally walking past death, Rin clicked his tongue and hurried towards the Dove, glaring at him.

Once he got closer to Amon, the man raised a thick brow, looking bored, “Are you always this slow?”

“Are you always this annoying?” Rin countered. Ignoring thee taller man curling his upper lip in annoyance, Rin took in a deep breath, for once, ignoring the countless murderous humans surrounding him, “Hurry up, I’m gonna get my quinque right? Where’s the car? Are you slow too?”

Before Amon could reply Rin was already pushing at the taller man’s back, shoving him towards the front doors and ignoring the dirty looks other Doves were giving them.

There actually was no need for a car. The CCG’s laboratory was just a few blocks away from the main branch. Getting to the lab, there wasn’t much to look at. It looked just like the dove’s headquarters. The only differences were that the lab was a set of wide buildings with only one floor, there were a lot more ominous trucks some of which were surrounded by strange individuals wearing lab coats, and there were more lab coats than people with suitcases.

Another huge difference was that there weren’t any RC gates standing around to scare the little ghoul. Once they had walked past the lobby and further into the building, Rin asked Amon about the gates.

“Surely a ghoul wouldn’t be stupid enough to come where we make the tools that kill them.”

Rin almost perked a condescending brow at that.

‘ _I’m the ghoul stupid enough to walk in here and with you too_.’ He wanted to say but instead, he just kept walking with the investigator, quietly taking in his surroundings and making sure he remembered every path they took. If he had to come back here soon or needed to give someone info about the place, he’d be giving them the good stuff.

At the moment, they were walking through a gigantic room, its steel layered walls curving upwards into a dome with a glassed oculus sitting right at the middle.

At one side, there were humans standing before moving conveyer belts, all of them too busy fiddling with what seemed to be red shrapnel. Rin squinted at them as they passed, silently sniffing the air. He didn’t smell much ghoul blood actually. On the other side were large steel containers hiding who knows what. Rin didn’t bother asking. He just wanted to get his quinque. The moment he has it would be the moment he might feel more secure with his fake identity.

“I’m sorry.”

Rin looked up at Amon, startled by the sudden apology. Knitting his brows together, they walked in silence for a few seconds with Rin simply staring at the Dove with a puzzled look in his eyes. The boy blinked at him, repeatedly, thinking if what he was hearing was true.

Granted that he shouldn’t be judging Amon so harshly, they barely knew each other. But Rin spent time with him as Cheetah. He literally saw what was probably the worst side of the investigator and even as he was watching Amon live a normal life, he never once heard the Dove apologize to anyone. If he ever did, it surely wasn’t meant for someone like Rin who had a rank lower than he did.

The silence must’ve made the muscle man uncomfortable since he suddenly looked down at Rin, his eyes shifting nervously between the small black haired guy looking directly up at him then to any other random place he could look at.

“Um…” he muttered, his hand going up to the back of his neck. “I won’t say it again…what I said about you being a ghoul…”

Rin noticed the Dove was shaking with just the slightest of shudders. Seeing the reaction, the boy felt his eyes slightly widen in mild and pleasant alarm. He tried not to laugh at it. Who would’ve thought that Amon Koutarou was such a sensitive person? It truly was amusing to the ghoul that a Dove was apologizing to him, but watching Amon look as pitiful as a schoolboy confessing to his first crush somehow made Rin feel a slight warmth bubbling gently in his stomach. He didn’t like the feeling.

Trying not to smile, Rin turned away from Amon. From the corner of his eye, Rin could swear he saw Amon’s shoulders relax.

“Forget it.” Rin simply said, listening to the echo of their shoes as they walked down a flight of wide and brightly lit stairs, “It was stupid for you to say that. What investigator wouldn’t get pissed off after being called a damn ghoul?”

Amon cleared his throat, uncomfortable again and seemed to slow his walk, widening the distance between him and Rin who almost whipped his head up and ordered the human to keep walking next to him.

“If you say that again…” Rin carefully stopped his words and felt his chest squeeze up with slight uneasiness.

He didn’t know what he would do if Amon ever said it again. Because maybe next time, just maybe, Amon would’ve actually believed his own teases. That he would finally find out that Rin was a wolf hiding underneath a sheep’s hide. By the time that happens, Rin would have to get away. Far from where his only clue about Jin would be.

‘It would be the most counterproductive counter attack ever.’

Beside him, Amon was silently watching Rin, a cautious look in his eyes.

“I won’t. I mean it.” Amon started, “I didn’t think it would get you that mad.”

Rin raised a brow at that and felt the small lopsided smirk rise on his face. At first, Amon just stared at Rin, probably wondering why he was smiling a moment later though, he was smirking too, an awkward curve of the corner of his lip rising. Rin saw his long and thick neck go slightly red.

“I was just really…” Amon heavily sighed, his shoulders heaving along with his breath as he glared at the air. “Things have been hard these days. And I’m just more uneasy than before.”

His words left the ghoul feeling slightly uneasy and awkward. Just a few hours ago, Amon was ready to brand Erin Murakami as a ghoul and kill him, a few minutes ago, they were bickering with each other and now, it seems as if the man was about to tell Rin his life woes. It was strange and made Rin feel a slight and numbing uneasiness curling at the bottom of his stomach but he didn’t tease Amon and focused on his words.

‘ _Uneasy?_ ’

“Are you saying you don’t trust _me_?”

The taller man quickly turned to Rin at that, his eyes bright with shock. At that moment, Rin tried to stop staring at his long lashes but instantly failed.

“I trust you.” Amon quickly said, not missing a beat and not beating a lash.

He didn’t say anything else. At that point, Rin thought he had just pushed a button. For once, the boy didn’t know what it was for or what it could result to, but he was sure there was nothing that could bring him back to the  Ishikawa Rin that kept running to save his own skin.

Rin felt his chest tighten before a hotness spread across it. No one has ever told him that with such conviction and confidence. Not even Jin. A second later, Rin nodded and looked away, trying to control the smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.

“I meant that…” Amon closed his mouth, his brows pinched upwards in a look of tortured uncertainty. It was too sudden and too quick for Rin, he wanted to hear what Amon had to say. The boy blinked at him in return, quietly waiting for the taller man to continue. When another second passed, Rin pulled his gaze away, content with the silence.

“You don’t need to tell me.”

The black haired man kept quiet next to him as they kept walking, Rin quietly listening to Amon’s footsteps and taking note of where they were going.

“I…always hated ghouls.” Rin quietly said.

Amon didn’t reply next to him, but Rin didn’t mind the silence. For some reason, he just wanted to talk to the investigator. Even if it meant not having an actual conversation with him. At the back of his mind, his inner self wanted to laugh. For him to open up to his annoyingly righteous and kind enemy, Rin must’ve been really stressed by the CCG today.

In some way though, him hating ghouls was true. Rin had met his fair share of asshole ghouls. Most tried to kill him, and almost every single one cursed his name, calling him rude names before Rin decided to just tear them to shreds. There were only a handful of them he truly liked and trusted. One of them was Jin.

“Most of them are assholes.” Rin said, “But I met one before that was really protective at first. I didn’t realize it sooner but he was actually setting up to hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” Amon asked, a low edge suddenly audible in his voice as he knit his brows at Rin.

Rin stared at him for a second, wondering why the man suddenly looked so angry. It was strange and quite nice to see another expression on his face, so Rin kept going, sure that little stories wouldn’t harm him in the long run.

“Let’s just say he acted like my friend but left me hanging in the end.” As he said this, his brother’s smiling face flashed in his mind. It was a bit if truth Rin had given away. Shockingly, it didn’t leave him feeling uneasy and scared of possible bad luck soon.

For a while, they were both quiet. Rin savored the silence, momentarily relieved that Amon didn’t start asking questions and just left the two of them to listen to the quiet and far-away hum of a machine.

As they reached the foot of the stairs, Amon said, with a low and quiet voice,

“I won’t leave you hanging.”

Rin abruptly stopped, feeling his eyes widen and his heart stop at the words. For a moment, he felt as if he was stripped of his entire being, revealed for the lie that he was ‘cause there was no way Amon Koutarou would be telling this to Ishikawa Rin the demonic ghoul named Cheetah.

Looking up, he watched as Amon kept walking, not even bothering to look back at Rin who stood at the foot of the stairs with a blank look on his face and a hotness that spread over his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY 2018, I AM BACK. for a while. It's already dawn where I am, I haven't had a decent sleep in weeks ('cause I'm watching too much kdramas and wasting my life away) so I need to sleep again! But, I hope this new chapter is good!!!


	17. Flying Blind

For a second, the walls seemed to be sliding closer to Rin, boxing him in a steel cage and silently shutting him out of his comfort zone.

It was unexpected for someone like him to hear the words “I won’t leave you hanging.”

Amon basically just told Rin that he won’t leave him alone. That he trusted Rin even when he barely knew anything about him. At first, his speechlessness and shortness of breath was just a momentary lapse of shock at the kind words from an enemy, but he quickly realized that Amon was a man true to his word.

As much as he hated to admit it, Amon Koutarou was, sometimes, a painfully and annoyingly kind person.

He wouldn’t harm Erin Murakami. Instead, he might even become his friend. He believed that Erin was good.

Rin almost laughed at Amon’s foolishness and naivety but he simply found himself staring at Amon’s wide back, remembering that it almost felt like Rin was curled up in the warmth of his bed when Amon carried Rin’s drunk ass to the safety of his own apartment.  

The boy tried not to let his condescending mind take over and just barely shoved away the image of Amon without a doubt falling victim to one of many lying con artists. Rin hadn’t said much about Erin Murakami’s backstory.

The only thing Amon might’ve known about Rin’s alias was that he was a drummer for a local rock band, someone with mild anger issues, and a proclivity for annoying anyone he could.

Rin silently scoffed at himself but didn’t bother to hide the taunting lopsided grin on his face.

‘ _He trusts Erin Murakami_.’

That was it. It was all Rin needed to get his legs working again. With a short huff, he straightened himself, eyes hard and cold as he followed the Dove.

Amon had already put slight distance between the two of them, glancing at Rin now and again but the boy let himself stay away for a while, not wanting to get close to the Dove for now since he was feeling an old but very familiar churning in his chest. He’s felt it before only once in his young life but it was more than enough to make him slowly hate the only person he trusted.

Thinking hard, the boy was instantly taunted by the image of Jin in the middle of that old, quiet street, empty and inhabited by old couples and anti-social singles. His hood pulled over his head and a gentle smile curling the corner of his lips, Rin remembered Jin turning away and leaving Rin for the 20th ward.

“You can handle yourself.” Jin had said that day. He said it with his usual bright smile, but Rin couldn’t help but whip his head away, hating that smile.

Rin felt the slight grimace on his face, the way his brows subtly knit together over his dark eyes.

Turns out he wasn’t the only cruel one.

Rin walked far from Amon for a while, staring at his back and studying him, trying to organize his thoughts. Realizing that the hallway had ended and that they were in another room without any quinque in sight, the boy knit his brows together.

“Are you sure this is where we’re gonna get the thing?” Rin asked, looking around for anyone who looks like they could possibly hand Rin his new quinque.

So far, the two have been walking in comfortable silence without anyone else interfering. Though he thought the silence was comfortable, it was slightly unnerving to the boy and he couldn’t stop himself from running a nervous hand through his mess of black hair now and again. They did practically open up to one another with Amon saying something so embarrassing at the end, but still.

Rin couldn’t help but feel the uneasiness practically stamped into his genetic code and curling inside him like wood shavings. He could feel that Amon was looking down at him with a bored and slightly condescending look in his eyes, looking as if he was about to say something, but before Rin could snap at him,

“First Class Amon!”

Rin turned to the squeaky voice, seeing a man wearing an all-black ensemble underneath a loose lab coat that seemed to make his lanky stature less obvious.

“How are you, doctor Chigyou?” Amon greeted, bowing his usual an overly zealous 90-degree bow before straightening himself, a kind and welcoming smile on his face.

Rin wanted to react to such brightness by grimacing or even scoffing but he noticed the doctor’s lopsided smile first, the man’s skin seemingly tight enough to make the stretch of skin near his mouth seem a little too much like it belonged to that one comic villain with crazed green hair.

‘ _Joker, right_?’

Though unlike the said character, this lanky man had a head capped with thick black hair shaped like an overly burnt mushroom cap.

“Busy fixing the new recruit’s quinque, of course!”

At this, the eyeless man turned his head towards Rin. Realizing that he was being looked at and that the man was waiting for a self-introduction, Rin cleared his throat and gave a low bow.

“I’m Erin Murakami.”

Doctor Chigyou nodded at his introduction, putting one hand on his slim hip and another under his chin, making him look as if he were thinking hard with a grin on his face.

“Hmm, you really are as small as Amon said.” The doctor said, his voice a thoughtful tone. Rin instantly flinched at that, freezing up next to Amon before he let his gaze darken, his head slowly pulling back in sure understanding.

‘ _Ah, of course this bastard would say that_.’

As much as he hated to admit it though, Amon _was_ indeed tall.

Thinking about the day a ghoul almost killed Amon and how Rin literally dragged the mass of meat back to his apartment, Rin wondered now how it was possible. Rin was maybe 5’7. At the corner of his eye, Rin saw that the top of his head was the top of Amon’s wide shoulders.

Rin almost curled his lip in distaste at the man’s musculature. ‘ _Damn it, the guy’s a freaking bull_.’

Though it was annoying to hear someone call him small, something in Rin was probably used to it by now. He and Amon have been bickering and fighting ever since they met. How was this any different? At the moment, he didn’t even feel his kagune tap at the skin on his back.

There was the urge to strangle, kick and wrestle the tall man until he went blue in the face and wheezed out even a disgruntled apology though.

Rin nodded bit as he hummed, a forced smile on his face before he laughed something so fake, it was almost rude. Well, that was the point anyway.

“Haha! Small...” He laughed, emphasizing the second word before he glared up at Amon now, “Really?”

Chigyou snickered again before turning his back at the duo, looking completely oblivious of the storm of annoyance brewing just underneath the overly-pleasant smile on Rin’s face.

“Actually, he said you looked fragile.” Chigyou said, the word ‘fragile’ now tauntingly echoing in Rin’s boiling mind. Perhaps the doctor didn’t notice Rin’s face going pale with hatred since he continued with a hearty laugh,

“I actually thought he was talking about a girl!”

Grinding his teeth, Rin couldn’t take it anymore. _Fragile_ was over the line.

“You…” Rin stopped himself.

Not because Amon was his superior in terms of investigator ranking or because another person was standing a few feet away watching the exchange, but because he couldn’t think of a witty and snobby come back. Hell, he couldn’t even get angry.

He was simply staring up at the tall man in disbelief, too shocked by the small trace of a smirk curling the corner of Amon’s lip.

Rin suddenly noticed the minute deepness on the Dove’s cheek, his mind momentarily focused on that one depression near Amon’s teeth.

Amon didn’t step back or look even the least bit sorry. Instead, he stood his ground, lost his smile and huffed, raising a defiant brow at the angry guy fuming a head beneath his shoulders.

“Don’t glare at me like that.” Amon commanded with a raise of his brows.

Rin’s own brow went higher now as he subtly cocked his head back in disbelief but Amon didn’t stop.

“You haven’t even trained with a quinque yet and the higher ups were already telling me to get you a quinque fit for first class investigators.” Amon started.

As he continued talking, his voice got louder and louder, “You probably just got through using Doujima ‘cause you were so mad. It’s your first day at work and since I’m the one in charge of you, I can’t have you getting hurt on your first mission-“

“Amon.”

“-I wouldn’t be there. Aki’s not that good with fighting ‘cause he easily gets distracted. Who’s gonna make sure you don’t kill yourself?!”

“Koutarou.”

“It’s better that I said you’re not used to quinques than have Chigyou mistake what you can handle and make life as a Dove harder for you than it already is.”

“For your safety and wellbeing, shut the fuck up, Koutarou.”

That finally got the black haired man’s attention. Suddenly looking perplexed and offended, Amon opened his mouth to speak but Rin beat him to it. Leaning towards the tall man, Rin grabbed Amon by the tie and shamelessly yanked him down, bringing Amon’s face mere inches from Rin’s.

“I swear, if you say I’m small again or imply in any way that I need you, I will punch the light out of your eyes, Amon.”

As if running away from a furious storm just whirling a few meters away, the doctor scurried and walked faster away from the two people behind him.

Rin meanwhile wanted to stand his ground and beat the taller man into a pulp before punching his face but he kept his cool, grinding his teeth to avoid yelling incoherencies at the Dove who simply stared at Rin with a bored-looking, half-lidded gaze. Obviously, he was also used to their bickering now and Rin hated it.

He hated the cool and calm silver of Amon’s eyes and the way his long lashes didn’t even sweep over them to re-paint his eyes with the glassiness Rin came to notice.

Before Amon could open his mouth again, the smaller boy shot a glare at him, hoping that it would burn through his annoying coat and stab through his skin. Rin wasn’t really angry. He was annoyed, but he was starting to feel a weird hotness on his cheeks along with a mildly unpleasant lack of oxygen. Was he physically too close to Amon?

“Let’s just go.” Rin simply said and let go of Amon’s tie before he started walking again as if nothing happened.

Maybe it was too uncharacteristic since Amon couldn’t move even after Rin’s emotionless words. Seeing that Amon was just standing there, staring at Rin’s back, the boy raised an impatient brow and nodded towards the way Chigyou walked.

“Would you make a move, already?” Rin called, “The grandma I walked past this morning was faster than you.”

Almost instantly, the normal, annoyed look pushed through the dazed on Amon’s face, making the investigator curl his upper lip in annoyance as he hurried towards Rin.

Once Amon got close enough, Rin shot out his arm in a quick blur before he heard the hard thump of his fist against Amon’s hard and muscled torso. The taller man grunted at that, almost doubling forward before he glared up at the boy.

Rin raised a defiant and condescending brow at him before he continued to stride away. “What? Don’t tell me my fragile fist was too painful?”

* * *

 

After a few more minutes of walking and the doctor explaining how quinques work to Rin, they finally moved into another room.

It was darker and colder inside the steel walled room. All over, there were large, steel containers similar to the ones Rin saw a few rooms before the one they were standing in. the room now looked more private now though. At one side, a long and wide table was pressed against the wall. A long white blanket covering it up, Rin stared at it, wondering about the shape underneath the sheet.

“It took me a while to get the right balance between its weight and its height. I actually thought of copying Doujima.” Chigyou started, walking towards the table Rin was staring at and stopping right before it. He turned to Rin now, tilting his head to one side.

“But since you’re so-“

Rin looked up at him and Chigyou visibly flinched. From the corner of his eye, Rin could see Amon’s face fall into his palm.

“-Ah, I mean, since you don’t have the right body type…”

The half-lidded gaze on Rin’s face almost looked rude but Rin was able to cover it with a tight lipped smile.

“I switched it up a bit.”

As the doctor dragged off the white cloth, Rin saw the dark steel gleam underneath his eyes before he finally saw the entire quinque lying just before him.

At first, Rin couldn’t understand what it was. He actually knit his brows together in confusion, glancing up at Amon from the corner of his eye and not even bothering to hide the look of befuddlement on his face.

Amon scoffed at that, a lop sided grin on his face now. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t like it.”

“Not that.” For once, Rin was speechless as he stared at the long and thick string of blood red steel lying before him.

Carefully, as if he were touching a snake, he let his fingers feel the sensation of smooth leather acting as the hilt of the flexible thread of steel. It was a strange handle though. Unlike the usual rounded hilt of a lasso, Rin’s quinque had a handle like that of a European sword. Slightly rounded at the edge, it was slim and fit the curves of his fingers snugly while another flat and harder curved shell protected his knuckles.

At the feeling of cold, hard leather, Rin vaguely remembered the smooth car seat leather he had sat in before. It was a very calm time for him and he was simply in a car shop, thinking about buying one. He never did. He was more comfortable walking thank be in a small tin can on wheels.

“I hope you like it.” Rin heard Chigyou quietly mutter next to him, his usual smile plastered on. Rin quickly nodded in reply. Even with his limited knowledge on quinques, Rin knew that this was a Rinkaku type. Easy enough to place, Kagune like his were simply the snake-like ones.

Confirming his thoughts, Chigyou said, “It’s a Rinkaku type. It’s not as heavy or hard hitting as Doujima but if wielded by the right person, it can split a ghoul clean in half.”

The boy knit his brows at that and looked up at the doctor.

“What?” he asked, not hiding the look of confusion clear on his face. How could this thin rope possibly cut a ghoul in half?

Chigyou laughed, a sound like that of a bike’s bell.

“I thought you said Rin was a cold type. This kid’s real cute.” Chigyou laughed. Then to Rin, “How old are you anyway?”

Rin ignored the previous statements and without hesitation said, “22.” as he studied the quinque, trying to look for buttons or anything more interesting than its strange shape.

Shaking his head now, Rin took the quinque by the hilt, almost jumping back at the sound of cold steel raking smoothly against steel, “Anyway, split a ghoul in half? Isn’t this some kind of…lasso?”

To emphasize its threadiness, Rin wiggled the quinque, all three of them watching the flexible steel shine and wiggle downwards like Rin was shaking a snake instead of a ghoul-killer.

Chigyou chuckled at that, “It’s not a lasso.” He cleared, sounding a bit offended before he motioned for Rin to hand him the hilt. Rin obliged, handing it to the doctor and watched as the man walked away from the duo, finding ample distance while he coiled the quinque in on itself like a rope.

Standing a few feet away from them, the doctor held the quinque in one hand, holding up the entire rope with solely his fingers before he suddenly opened his hand just enough to let the rope fly into the air.

The steel rope sliced through. As if activated by the coldness, it pulsed a bright, familiar red that almost made the kagune in buried in Rin back tickle against his skin in an urge to join its kin in a brilliant dance. A second later, the thin rope suddenly expanded, thicker and wider than the body of the biggest snake as it coiled and writhed in the air.

Rin thought that was all he was gonna be shown but right then, the doctor pulled his arm back and flung the rope farther out.

The boy could only hear the sound of a whip cracking before the sound of steel crashed hard against the floor with an ear-splitting CLANG! that shook the floor.

Both he and Amon jumped, the latter gasping in shock as they turned to the left. Where the doctor had aimed, a steel box had been sliced cleanly into half. Thankfully, there was nothing inside but Rin could care less, he was busy staring at the clean cut through solid steel.

Rin wasn’t the one who held the weapon but he was sure it was like cutting through melted butter.

At one part, Rin was shaking. Not because he had a new weapon that was as deadly as it was aesthetically pleasing, but because it was so easy. It was so easy to destroy something that shouldn’t be so easily destroyed.

He killed ghouls with his own kagune but this was different. A quinque was no longer a ghoul’s weapon. It belonged to blood thirsty humans. And now, he was one of them.

“Here. Try it out if you want.” Chigyou said, nonchalantly handing him the quinque, “But make sure Amon and I are out of reach first. That thing has a wide range. Also, that’s made of one of the best materials we have, so don’t wreck it.”

Rin simply stared at it for a moment, dazed and slightly frightened as he thought of killing his first ghoul with his new quinque.

* * *

 

The sun was setting now, its blood orange rays playing behind the dark curtain of Rin’s fringe, trying to blind him as they walked back to the CCG. For a long while, the silence was stronger than the cold air between him and Amon.

Rin would’ve said something, would’ve talked about his new quinque but for once, he didn’t know what to tell the human nor did he want to lie about anything. Right now, his throat couldn’t squeeze out any words for some reason and it was frustrating him.

As the ghoul, he just hit the jackpot. A job where he can freely note down all the abilities of every ghoul in the country, and a quinque that’s practically a mirror of his own kagune. All of this was what he needed to securely research about Jin’s death and he got it all literally just a day after he got into the CCG.

Itori would probably be clicking her tongue in annoyance right now.

He wanted to celebrate but for some reason, something was making his chest ache, like a hole suddenly materialized right in the middle of his heart, taking in air when it should’ve been pumping up blood into his body. His mind was slow too and it wasn’t a good sign.

As Erin, he had to do something. Even at least talk about the briefcase’s unexpected lightness.

Amon must’ve noticed his silence since Rin heard him clear his throat all too loudly.

“If you don’t like it, we can take it back.” his words instantly made Rin look up at him with wide eyes filled with confused shock. The two of them stopped walking for a second, staring each other.

For a moment, Rin simply stared at Amon, blinking as if waking himself from a daze.

“What?” Rin muttered dreamily.

Amon blinked at that as well, staring at Rin with wide, cow-like eyes. Suddenly, the man looked away. His ears were red. Maybe it was because of the cold. The sun was setting, after all.

A beat later, the tall man turned back to Rin, his mouth stretched into a charming smile that showed all the perfectly lined teeth.

“Really,” Amon started with a lopsided smirk, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at Rin now and again, a troubled look scrunching his brows together,

“I don’t get you. I thought you’d be talking non-stop about your quinque right now. Your silence is worrying me…” Amon said before he pulled his arm down, fully turning to Rin now. “At least say something about the briefcase.”

When Rin didn’t reply, “If you don’t like it, we can go back. It’s gonna be the thing to keep you alive, after all.”

“I don’t like it?”

“Don’t you?”

“What?”

“Erin.”

Rin blinked at Amon again. Realizing that Amon was right about how strange his silence was, the boy quickly turned away, his cheeks feeling hot all of a sudden. A second later, he felt his arms go cold, mild dread and familiar uneasiness filling him up.

What should he say about his reactions?

Erin Murakami would’ve been ecstatic the moment he saw the quinque, but they were already heading back to the main headquarters. Rin was hours too late for his alias’ required reaction.

But…it wasn’t that hard to understand in all honesty.

Rin couldn’t think of anything, feel anything but shock. It was a strange sensation that made the boy slightly tense under his skin, but there was nothing to be scared of. He got the weapon he needed, a successful day of infiltrating the CCG, and to top it off, Amon Koutarou-the Dove who once scoured every ward for Cheetah-practically announced his ‘friendship’ with Rin.

Seeing that there was no need to fake anything, Rin looked back at Amon, letting himself study the man’s almost childish and impatient stance- his strong arms crossed before his chest in a waiting position.

With hesitancy, Rin looked down at the briefcase, turning it in his hand.

“It’s not that I don’t like it…” he muttered, watching the way the smooth metal corners gleaming under the setting sun.

“I’m…not used to this.” Rin quietly said. For a while, Rin could only hear the sounds of city living muffled by the distance. Amon scoffed next to him, the sound of his shoes growing louder within each step.

“You’ll get used to it once you actually use it.” Amon said, “It looks a little complicated though, can you control it?”

Why did Amon have such horrible word choice?

Rin looked up at the taller man, the look of annoyance rekindling the nonchalant brightness in his face.

“Of course I can.” Rin replied testily.

The taller man seemed to be immune to the boy’s testy mood now. Confidently, he raised a skeptic brow, thoughtfully humming before he turned away from the boy, not saying anything else. Rin could practically hear Amon asking it though, his low and husky voice ad annoying sing-song as he asked, “Really?”

Rin simply narrowed his eyes, muttering about how annoying Amon was. Lugging around his quinque, the back haired boy huffed, suddenly feeling slightly annoyed by the weight. He had to do something about this briefcase. As a nomad, he never had to carry anything for such a long time but now as a Dove, he had to drag the annoying case all over the place.

“Can I go home now?” Rin asked, “I don’t like carrying this so much. I’m tired.”

Amon exclaimed a loud and overly exaggerated “HUH?” at Rin who simply looked back at him with a lazy, half-lidded gaze.

“It’s only-“ Amon looked at his watch, his mouth wide open and ready to shout out the time. But nothing came out. He shut his mouth, still staring at the watch on his wrist while his cheeks reddened in an almost comical way.

Rin raised a brow at the taller man. Noticing the direction at which his shadow was pointing at, he was more than positive work hours were already over.

“Too embarrassed to look up?” Rin teasingly asked. Amon glanced up at the boy and simply straightened himself, glaring at Rin but failing to hide the embarrassed blush on his face.

“Anyway, you still need to fix your quinque’s paper work.” Amon said as he and Rin continued walking. Rin flashed an irritated look at the man, almost stopping when he recalled Aki telling him that Amon wasn’t helping Rin since he was busy fixing paperwork for the quinque.

“Didn’t _you_ do that already?”

“I can’t name your quinque.” Amon replied, “That’s your job.”

Quirking a brow, the boy momentarily let the mild disbelief spill through his head.

The fact that even a mere weapon needed a name was beyond him.

Feeling a little childish and slightly baffled, Rin scoffed, “Name my quinque?” he asked, emphasizing the word ‘name’ with a high-pitched tone. Amon looked at Rin like the boy had just asked him about a UFO.

“Yes, a name.” Amon said in a matter-of-factly tone, then with a tilt of his head, “Problem with that?”

“Yes, it’s ridiculous.”

After such shameless and nonchalant words, Rin did a double-take towards Amon, trying not to laugh when he saw the pout on the grown man’s face.

Did Amon know he was doing that right in front of Rin?

Ignoring the man’s uncharacteristic pout, Rin tiredly shook his head as they turned a corner, wishing that the corner was the one he turned to before he finally saw his apartment door.

“Why does it need a name? Isn’t ‘that thing’ good enough?”

After all, it’s probably what some Doves say when they point fingers at a ghoul.

Looking up, Rin saw the CCG towering over other houses and smaller buildings, orange rays of sunlight bouncing off of its steel façade and polished windows. Though the building seemed to be of architectural genius, Rin was once again worried about what was inside.

He quite had enough of the metal detectors now.

From next to him, Amon sighed.

“If it ever gets lost-which I really hope you won’t let happen-it’ll be easy for you to get it back. There are tons of quinques. You wouldn’t want to lose yours. If a ghoul has kagune, your one and only weapon is your quinque.”

All too suddenly, Amon whirled, turning fully to Rin who cocked his head back in slight surprise before seeing the way Amon’s brows knit together. With a determined and serious glare that could probably scare any child,

“Keep it with you at all times.” Amon quietly said. Not saying a word, the boy simply raised a brow. Am on must’ve thought it was silent agreement since he gave a hard nod then turned away from Rin who simply gave the man’s back the usual bored, half-lidded gaze simply scoffed, rolling his eyes in the process.

“As if.” He muttered to himself before he turned his back to the building. Rin didn’t hold promises or commitments.

His route home was already mapped out in his mind along with other possible routes Rin could sprint through when Amon tries to drag him back to the CCG. Surprisingly though, the firm hand didn’t tug him backwards even after a whole minute.

Curious, Rin gave a minute glance backwards, trying not to move his head so it wasn’t obvious that he was waiting for Amon to pull him back. Once he turned his head far enough, just a few feet away from him, he saw Amon and his usual stoic face again.

The man was simply watching Rin, onyx eyes glassy and soft underneath the messy black fringe shining at the touch of the setting sun.

Seeing the look, Rin stopped in his tracks, his run-away mind instantly screaming beeping sirens before his heart started racing and the air felt a bit colder.

Did he do something wrong?

A second later,

“Call me when you’re already home.” Amon’s voice quietly said before he turned his back to Rin and briskly walked away, his back as straight and as stiff as a trusty soldier on the way to war.

For a very long while, Rin simply stood, not knowing how to react even when Amon was already long gone. After a few seconds of letting his mouth fall open and the round of mute curses, Rin scoffed loudly, his disbelief fueling confusion.

“What am I, a 12-year old?”

Turning on his heels, Rin stomped away, determined to get home before the sun went down because maybe even once the sun was gone, the hotness burning his face and neck wouldn’t be able to explain the strange but pleasant bubbling at the bottom of his stomach.


	18. A Little Fight

As of now, Rin was being trained by a very disagreeable human who didn’t care that he was more exhausted than an obese person trying to run a two mile hike up a flight of stairs.

Thinking about it now, Rin started to feel regret for his rash decisions. True, he took his time to think about his decision of becoming a Dove but since he was suffering right now, barely getting any meat inside his body and only coping with endless bottles of cold water to numb the relentless growling in his stomach, he had to question his life decisions.

 _‘I didn’t sign up for this_.’

Grunting, Rin quickly ducked from Doujima, narrowly avoiding its tree-trunk thickness glimmering a bloodthirsty red that sailed just mere inches from the top of his sweat-slicked hair.

“Can we stop?” Rin gasped before instantly straightening his legs to fuel a perfect jump backwards, saving his stomach from internal bleeding, “We’ve been at it for hours, you damn-“

The sound of air zipped past his ears before Doujima stopped mere inches between his eyes, blood red crackling and pulsing through the vein-like design on its surface. Looking farther behind it, Rin cast a hard glare at Amon, panting and hearing himself wheezing as his arms and legs shook like leaves in the mercy of an east gale.

“We can still keep going.” Amon said, ignoring the seat trickling down his neck and over the visible pulse repeatedly beating over taut skin. Rin had to maintain eye contact just so he wouldn’t jump the human and finally let go of his inhibitions just for the sake of saving his stomach.

“ _You_ can keep going. _I_ can’t. It’s not my fault you’re inhuman.” Rin growled back, only noticing the way his stomach growled like an angry mutt. “And that’s not the point, _teacher_.” Rin hissed out the last word, hating the fact that he was stuck with the muscle mass as his trainer. Had he no escape from this bastard?

“How the hell am I gonna learn anything if I can’t even breathe?”

Amon scoffed at that, still pointing his quinque at Rin’s face. Rin was practically grinding his teeth into nubs just to keep his kagune from bursting out. Well, it wasn’t like that could happen any time soon. He was too weak to even use his kagune.

“It’s not my fault you can’t keep up the pace.” Amon said with an arrogant huff, “For someone who’s annoyingly proud, you don’t have much stamina.”

“Shut up.” Rin growled back, a little fiercer this time while glaring at the muscle mass who simply smirked back. Rin wanted to cut his head then and there but for the first time in his life, his energy wasn’t even bouncing against 0. He was completely spent.

Even his anger wasn’t enough to fuel the blood in his shaky muscles. Within the two weeks of sparring, Amon successfully teased, taunted, and annoyed Rin.

Shockingly enough, the boy didn’t kill Amon. He was too tired to, after all. Now, he simply resorted to verbal assault, snapping back at Amon now and again and almost starting an actual fight three days ago after he repeatedly accused the Dove of actually using steroids to impress everyone.

Granted he shouldn’t be treating his teacher like this, but Rin never liked teachers or people who told him what to do. Even his parents knew that their child thrived learning in the silence of his own mind.

Truly though, it was strange that Amon was his assigned trainer. From the minimum information Rin had about the CCG and its academy, trainees and new recruits like Rin should have a special trainer-one who wasn’t busy with missions and assignments out in the 20th ward.

Rin understood that sentiment. Amon had no idea how to teach. All he was doing was sparring with Rin and pushing the boy to keep fighting, telling him to “refuse” the ache in his bones. It was a strangely stupid way to motivate Rin. And it didn’t really motivate him to fight harder, it just hardened the resolve to somehow kill Amon someday.

“Death does not rest! What are you gonna do if a ghoul kills you while you’re gasping for air?!” He yelled last week when Rin was already lying on the floor having had enough of Amon’s crazy stamina and over-zealous fighting spirit.

Were other Doves like this? Surely not. They weren’t even assigned a trainee.

The newbies were left to the professionals. Thinking this way, Rin tried not to show the anger boiling under his skin and making the back of his head pulse with annoyance.

If the higher ups decided to give Rin Amon as a trainer who was, simply put, a useless and idiotic one, Rin had to question whether or not he was being taken seriously.

“Enough. I can’t anymore.” Rin finally huffed, turning away from the quinque pointed at his forehead and ignoring Amon’s calls and shouts as he carefully sat down the polished, wooden floor and plopped unto his back, reveling at the exhaustion his long and deep breaths were trying to expel into the already hot training room.

Lying on his back, he carefully pulled his eyes upward, watching Amon mutter annoying complaints under his breath as he moved to the far back of the wide room, Doujima still in hand. Rin’s eyes subtly followed, taking note of Amon’s straight-backed gait and the minute limp of his right leg.

For a moment, Rin stared at him, wondering at how Cheetah was able to slip past Amon every time he was close to catching him. Eyes floating upwards, Doujima looked like an extension of Amon’s muscular arm now. Recalling the first time he used the quinque, Rin still felt its heaviness amidst the blinding anger. Thank God he was furious. If he wasn’t, he probably wouldn’t be able to lift the damn thing with just sheer willpower.

Rin didn’t see any veins popping out from Amon’s arms though.

‘ _How long have you been using that_?’ he wanted to ask Amon, but even opening his mouth was a challenge. He might just vomit on the spot. How long had the man been a Dove? How many ghouls has he killed?

Would Amon kill Rin if he found out that he had actually been fighting with Cheetah all this time? Surely enough, Amon would think he fell headfirst into a cat and mouse trap.

Rin tried not to think more about that. For the past two weeks that Rin had been recruited into the CCG as a newbie Dove, they’ve been sparring in the wide room after Rin’s lessons about ghouls and their anatomy. Just the two of them surrounded by mirrored walls, their bare feet sliding past the smooth, wooden floor as they danced with either their quinques or challenged each other with bare hands and flying kicks.

Even though the man was annoying, Rin secretly enjoyed the spars. He’d be lying if he thought otherwise. Though Rin unleashed hell just for fun, Cheetah barely had any challenging opponents to worry about so fighting a human who was just as fast and as strong as an experienced ghoul was quire refreshing and exciting. The worst ghoul Rin ever encountered was the rumored to be crazy cannibal Jason and they didn’t even fight.

Back then, he thought Amon was weak. Well, for Rin it _was_ a fact that he was weak. Even at Rin’s pitiful state, he could still win against Amon in a square fight if he pushed himself hard enough. But it turns out that the man had grown a lot in the few years Rin hadn’t seen him.

He was faster, agile and possibly, stronger than before. If they were in an actual fight, winning would be a 50/50 chance for both parties.

Simply enough, Rin was starting to respect the investigator.

Or maybe Rin was just too fatigued and abusive of his hunger.

Amon suddenly stopped in the middle of the room. Then along with a long and throaty moan, he curved his bare back, puffing out his chest and pulling his elbows back. A part of Rin cringed at the sound of bones cracking but another felt warm relief as if he were the one loosening his muscles.

‘ _Stop that_.’ Rin wanted to say, feeling the hotness still present on his face and spreading through his neck. Saliva pooling over his tongue, Rin swallowed and looked away from the human’s rippling muscles. He hadn’t eaten a proper ghoul meal in two weeks.

He was able to escape Amon’s gaze two days ago, saying that he was going to spend his weekend resting at home. In truth, Rin was already two wards away, scavenging for the meat of humans who jumped off a cliff to end their life. It wasn’t enough though.

Two weeks was an impressive time of endurance for a ghoul and Rin was happy that he lasted for so long without snapping at the muscle mass both figuratively and literally, but he was feeling the effects of hunger now.

For a ghoul who, for almost his entire life had properly sustained himself on ghoul meat and the occasional human muscle, he wasn’t used to resorting to just eating meager meals. His stomach was putting up an annoying fuss, curling in on itself now and again and chewing at its own walls.

Closing his eyes, Rin took in a deep breath, trying not to wait for Amon’s call. For a few seconds, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep before he suddenly felt warm breath subtly tickling the hair stuck to his sweaty forehead.

He snapped his eyes open and froze at the sight of Amon sitting above his head, onyx eyes hovering a good distance over Rin’s own wide ones. His heart racing in shock, Rin blinked.

“What?” he snapped, ferocity clear in his voice. Amon wasn’t bothered by it though. He simply stared at the boy, looking bored as if he had expected this kind of anger.

“Are you actually going to sleep?” Amon asked with a raised brow, “If you close your eyes again, you’re doing 100 push-ups.”

Rin narrowed his eyes at that, “Fuck off.”

“That’s not how you talk to a teacher.”

“You’re not a teacher, you’re just Amon. Go away.” Not waiting for a reply, Rin stubbornly shut his eyes again. Once his eyelids pushed together, two hands slapped his temples, making an indignant squawk burst up Rin’s throat as his eyes shot open to see Amon’s face mere inches from his own.

“You have an assessment in two hours,” Amon said, easily catching Rin’s fist towards the face and carefully twisting the boy’s arm, somehow making Rin turn on his belly with his thin arm pressed to his back. Rin screamed a rude word but Amon simply tightened his grip as if twisting out the curses out of Rin’s mouth.

“If you’re not up to it, the higher ups will kick you out before you can even do your first assignment. They know we’re close to each other so if you fail, they will question me and my skills so if you don’t want me coming after you for your entire life, get up and practice using your quinque!”

“Get off me!” Rin screamed, his legs flailing beneath Amon’s crushing weight. Pushing hard against the man’s weight, Rin was simply met with more heaviness that simply crushed the air out of his lungs.

The rest of the hour consisted of wrestling (Rin really wasn’t good at that), then quinque practice (Rin’s quinque kept flying out of his hand and almost decapitated Amon).

At one point, Rin was on the floor once again, but this time, he was alone, listening to his deep and heavy breaths.

The assessment was in 20 minutes and it was a slight distance away from the training floor but Rin was taking his time. If he was going to have to fight again, he had to take even just a few minutes of rest. Carefully, he clenched his fist, feeling the tight leather grip of his quinque.

He still wasn’t used to the feeling of steel pulsing hotly in his hands whenever he used the quinque. Sure, it moved exactly like his own kagune but it was like actually holding the scaly tail. And those things weren’t for touching. Turning, Rin stared at the coil of red, steel rope lying on the floor like a sleeping serpent.

He bit his lip for a moment, thinking of the assessment now. ‘ _No giving up_.’

It was one of his problems in truth. Sometimes, he had the tendency to give up halfway. If things got too boring, forget all the effort one had to push in, trying to get the best results. He’d give it all up at the blink of an eye. But this time, this wasn’t something he was allowed to give up.

If he got the actual license to be a Dove, he would have access to all the information he could want about Ghouls. That didn’t only mean that he had the upper hand against other ghouls. That also meant more information on his secretive brother. One way or another, he’ll finally know who killed Ishikawa Jin and whether or not Rin should keep living as Erin or finally drop the entire act and continue on with life.

First thing’s first. He had to pass this assessment. Passing the assessment meant knowing exactly how to fight with his new quinque.

‘ _Can’t run to the finish line if you haven’t started_.’

“Murakami.” He muttered, staring at his quinque.

It was the only name Rin could think of for the quinque. Amon said it was simply for identification purposes, so his last name was probably enough. Other than that, it was fitting. Erin Murakami _was_ his only weapon in this world of ghouls and ghoul-killers.

He wanted to call it Jin but it would be too obvious and slightly disturbing even for his standards. His dead brother named after a quinque? It basically became Rin holding his brother’s corpse and waving it around at other ghouls.

At the thought of his brother, he was finally able to stabilize his breath. As much as he wanted to just go home, the assessment was pretty much a rite of passage for every aspiring ghoul-killer and Rin had to be one of them once and for all.

The door suddenly slid open. Turning to it, Rin tried not to let the glower take over his face. Amon did the same as he looked down at Rin and said, “It’s time for the assessment.”

For a moment, Rin’s stomach growled hungrily again. Rin thought he’d just use the hunger for motivation. Huffing, he gripped his quinque and jumped up, suddenly feeling energized.

Cheetah had the tendency to be a show off. Rin was someone new so it wouldn’t hurt to give him some personality.

“You blew it.”

Rin stared at Amon. The glare on his face was probably the most ferocious one he had ever blessed anyone with but the Dove was simply glaring back at him too, looking more disappointed than angry.

In the middle of the wide, practically empty room painted a sickly grey where he and Amon stood staring each other down, Rin was almost about ready to actually kill Amon Koutarou. the boy gripped his lasso-quinque’s handle.

‘ _Don’t kill him_.’ He repeated in a soothing chant as he carefully looped together his quinque in an attempt to cool his hot headed anger.  

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Rin growled, trying to control his breathing and the loudness of his voice since the higher ups were still busy exiting the room.

He tried not to look at them either. If he did, he’d probably just glare at them too. For an entire hour, he was dancing around the room, whipping his quinque in the air. It would’ve been fine if that was all he did. But for an hour, he had to kill other ghouls too and doing so while being judged by humans wasn’t something Rin enjoyed. He liked to kill other ghouls in his own time and for his own fun, thank you very much.

Against his quinque, was a crazy ghoul the higher ups supposedly called ‘Daisy’.

Simply enough, Rin – a hungry ghoul was pinned against another, equally hungry ghoul who was more than prepared to feast on Rin’s insides.

Rin was able to kill him within 10 minutes of the fight but right after that, another ghoul was pulled in. After that one, another ghoul, and another, and another until the clock finally struck the 12 o’clock chime and woke Rin from his killing spree. In his opinion, he did startlingly well with his quinque. For the entire hour, it felt like he was actually using his kagune.

Rin glanced down at his black shirt. He didn’t even know which wetness was sweat and which was blood. For a while, he stood quiet, unsure of the slight tugging in his stomach. Was it hunger or was he actually starting to feel disgusted by the blood in his hands?

Busy piecing himself together, Rin didn’t hear Amon calling his name.

“Erin. Did you hear me?” Amon loudly asked, eyes big and seemingly accusing like those of an angry parent’s. “I asked why you had to go so crazy? Don’t push it or the higher ups will think you’re-“

Rin pulled up his gaze, not hiding the fact that the taller man was definitely pushing what was left of Rin’s good mood. Seeing the look of pale hesitation and slight uneasiness on Amon’s face, he knew that the man had made a mistake with his words. Such knowledge simply fueled the fire boiling in Rin’s veins.

Grinding his teeth, Rin clicked the button in his quinque, listening to the steel fold in on itself before turning into a small briefcase. It was better to hide the weapon now. The blood pounding in his head was too loud of a persuasion to kill the human.

There were many endings to that sentence. “They’ll think you’re crazy”, “They’ll think you have n oself-control”, “they’ll think you’re a ghoul”.

Rin’s thought of every single sentence.

But for those humans to actually think that way of him after everything they did to exterminate ghouls? They weren’t ones to talk big and look down at someone like Rin.

If ever they did say something like that, Rin would probably give up on the alias and straight out murder everyone human he sees in this building out of disappointed spite.

After a lengthy second of staring each other down, Rin straightened himself, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He smelled the raunchy and fishy stench of ghoul staining his nails and now the skin on his forehead, but the words in his head were too wonderful for him to ignore. Seeing the way Amon tense up before him, swallowing and looking nervous, Rin had to scoff and show off the smug smile curling his lips.

“You know how to use your muscles but not your head. As usual. Kindly fuck off. I’m not in the mood to listen to your mindless criticisms.”

Without waiting for a reply or savoring Amon’s shocked expression, Rin angrily shoved past the human, heading straight for the door he had entered from. Whatever Amon was going to say, he was no longer in the mood to hear it. Amon was quick to move though and was already blocking the door.

A look of blank and annoyed confusion spread through Amon’s onyx eyes, “Wait, I was just-“

“If I knew you were gonna be such a leech, I would have refused the job offer before you could even tell me to think about it.”

Amon’s lips straightened into a line. He looked like he was trying to be calm too. “Look, I’m sorr-“

“Fuck off.”

For a while, the taller man simply stared down at Rin who in turn stared upwards with a smug and cold look. Amon seemed to be extremely confused at Rin’s outburst but the boy didn’t really care for what the Dove felt. He hadn’t eaten a proper meal in weeks, God knows when he’ll get caught by one of these Doves, and he’s bathed in blood. For some reason, today wasn’t a good day for Rin.

It looked like the investigator wanted to say something else but Rin sharpened his glare, daring Amon to speak his mind. After a while, Amon finally looked away and started turning towards the door. With one last glance towards the boy, he huffed and stomped out the door.

Unfortunately, the annoying Aki was standing at the door and Rin had to whip his head away and hiss out a curse just to relieve the annoyed hotness curling through his neck. Aki was about to wave hello to Amon, a wide and clearly happy smile on his face but Amon ignored him and practically bulldozed against the smaller man who whined in response.

“Hey!” Aki yelped, stumbling backwards and catching himself with the door. Rin watched Aki stare after Amon for a while before the blonde looked up at Rin and started walking towards him, pointing back at Amon with his thumb while craning his neck to look back now and then.

“What his problem?” he asked.

Rin stared at the door as well, grinding his teeth as he huffed with a disgusted look on his face, finally unable to resist the stench of ghoul blood mixing with his sweat.

“The only problem here is his stupidity.” Rin muttered under his breath, practically snapping his shirt at the air, pretending that the emptiness was the troublesome muscle mass. At the corner of his eye, he could see Aki staring. He didn’t mind the look at first, people always stare at him.

But Aki was much too quiet and the air was getting uncomfortable as if Rin was being a piece of meat being judged. Rin blinked at this and whipped his head up towards the man. He already knew in himself that he’d always hate this human. The boy was an obnoxious and seemingly untrainable puppy.

“What?” Rin hissed as he straightened himself and threw the shirt over his bare shoulder. Aki didn’t seem at all fazed by Rin’s rudeness. A moment later, a sly grin curved his lips and seemed to make the mischievous gleam in his green eyes sparkle.

“Lover’s quarrel, eh?”

“If you don’t want me to kill you right now, shut the fuck up.”

Aki was holding his arms up as if trying to defend himself, biting his lower lip and trying not to say anything (or possibly laugh) while Rin held him up by the collar, practically burning with hatred for the boy. Right then, Rin felt a painful, hollow twist in his stomach before a loud and pitiful groan echoed form his belly.

Aki stares at him, raising a brow. “So that’s why.” Oblivious of Rin’s reddening face, the boy plops an arm over Rin’s shoulders, “If you were starving, you should’ve just said so! Come on, let’s eat, eh, eh?!”

Rin just stared incredulously at the overactive blonde, wondering how on earth his face was as thick as it was.

‘ _I wanna kill him_.’

He didn’t know how it was possible, but maybe Rin was just too pissed off to notice that Aki had actually dragged him out of the room and into the cold hallway where other Doves stared at him and Aki. In the end, Rin was forced to the canteen where everyone gasped, grimaced and laughed at his bloodied state.

Obviously, Aki wasn’t bothered by the attention people were giving them (not importantly the attention Rin was willing to pound into his head.) but after an annoyed huff, Rin simply took a ball of bread from Aki’s tray and strode away while easily ignoring Aki’s whines and childish harrumphs, heading towards the locker room where hopefully, the door had an iron bolt to keep obnoxious blondes away.

There were still two hours left until Rin could leave for home. As much as he wanted to just bail and run off without a care, he had to at least try and seem responsible. At the moment, he was back in the dull training room. For a while he just stood there staring at the steel training dummy standing before him, wondering how the assessment really went and why he let his anger burst at Amon just then.

Granted, they always fought but today was different and Rin could actually feel the need to apologize to the Dove. After all, Amon was probably about to give some advice. As a newbie, Rin could use some of it. But he didn’t like the feeling of being sorry towards the damn human so at the moment, he was trying to look for loopholes to avoid apologizing.

While he was busy playing with Murakami, the sound of someone bounding down the hallway made him look up towards the door. A second later, the door slammed open, revealing a seemingly too hyperactive Aki. Rin had to physically recoil at the rabid look in the boy’s eyes.

“There you are!” Aki yelled as he hurried towards Rin, “Come on, we need to go to the mall.”

Rin rolled his eyes at this. First, a useless teacher who angrily criticizes his every move, now a mall visit with this lunatic? Rin was starting to think the CCG was actually a joke.

“What the hell are you-“

“You don’t have a suit, right?” he asked with a huff, tilting his head and making his golden hair shuffle along to the movement, “in this business, a suit is a must or you won’t be identifiable as an investigator.”

“Does it even matter?” Rin groaned as he curled up his quinque and walked towards his backpack. Though he didn’t want to go anywhere else but home, the boy guessed that if he entertained the kid at least once, he’d be saved from the radar for a while.

Before Rin could reach for his backpack, akin snatched it from the coat hanger, smirking at the older boy who was simply enough, ready to dismember him just to get the bag.

“Look, just come with me to the mall!” Aki pleaded, “Please, you can’t keep wearing black shirts every day.”

Rin subtly raised a brow at him, trying not to smirk. Though he was also insulted, he was pleased that such an arrogant boy was practically whining and begging for something. For a while, they stood there in silence – Aki holding up Rin’s bag in the air, probably thinking that the black haired boy couldn’t reach it, and Rin glaring at Aki in return.

Pursing his lips, Rin tried thinking of other ways to get out of this. No one ever said anything about a uniform so it wasn’t a necessity. Rin was almost out of money too, he didn’t need such useless and uncomfortable clothes.

He couldn’t leave his bag to Aki. No freaking way. The day Rin leaves his bag to someone is the day he kills himself. Punching Aki in the face was a very tempting choice but remembering the many women that swooned and the other higher ups that cooed over him, it would be the most troublesome way to make unwanted enemies. In the end, there was the easiest and most harmless choice.

Like he just swallowed a dry pill, Rin huffed and started towards the door. “Get a cab, give me back my bag and don’t be annoying.”

Apparently the original plan didn’t even involve Rin. Hearing this from Aki’s own mouth, Rin stared at him, wide eyed as he hoped the car would stop so suddenly that the boy would fly out of the passengers eat, through the windshield and head first into a messy death.

“So why am I here?” Rin asked through gritted teeth as he practically grabbed the driver’s seat’s headrest and startled the life out of the innocent cab driver. The moment he finished his question, the door opposite of where he sat pulled open. Rin looked up at the new comer and froze, his furious gaze instantly dropping into one of passive-aggression.

Turning in his seat, Aki smiled a foxlike grin at Amon who was busy quietly settling himself next to Rin.

“’Sup, first class Amon.” turning to Rin now, “When I saw you, I thought It’d be good just take you with us. It’s actually Amon who’s getting a new suit.”

Rin pursed his lips, nodding and pretending to look interested before, “Not interested. I’m leaving.”

After all, this was all probably Aki’s ruse to either see a live fight or a reconciliation. The former was probably the most likely.

“Erin.”

The boy’s hand instantly stopped at the handle and Rin had to stop himself from biting down his lower lip. Why does he stop every time Amon calls his name?

Stiffly, he turned to Amon, waiting. The taller man looked at Rin with such pleading eyes, Rin couldn’t believe it at first. Then again, this was Amon Koutarou. The man was the personification of honesty.

Feeling his face going red at the strange new expression Amon just gifted him with, Rin swallowed and bit his lip before finally surrendering to the two humans.

Carefully, he leaned back into his seat, stubbornly crossing his arms and looking out the window. When the car didn’t move, he looked towards Aki now, a deadly glare on his face.

“Well?” he growled, “are we going or not?”


End file.
